Leonid Bershidsky
Bloomberg.com
Originally posted March 19, 2018
Nectome promises to preserve the brains of terminally ill people in order to turn them into computer simulations -- at some point in the future when such a thing is possible. It's a startup that's easy to mock. 1 Just beyond the mockery, however, lies an important reminder to remain skeptical of modern artificial intelligence technology.
The idea behind Nectome is known to mind uploading enthusiasts (yes, there's an entire culture around the idea, with a number of wealthy foundations backing the research) as "destructive uploading": A brain must be killed to map it. That macabre proposition has resulted in lots of publicity for Nectome, which predictably got lumped together with earlier efforts to deep-freeze millionaires' bodies so they could be revived when technology allows it. Nectome's biggest problem, however, isn't primarily ethical.
The company has developed a way to embalm the brain in a way that keeps all its synapses visible with an electronic microscope. That makes it possible to create a map of all of the brain's neuron connections, a "connectome." Nectome's founders believe that map is the most important element of the reconstructed human brain and that preserving it should keep all of a person's memories intact. But even these mind uploading optimists only expect the first 10,000-neuron network to be reconstructed sometime between 2021 and 2024.
The information is here.
Showing posts with label Brain Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brain Death. Show all posts
Monday, April 9, 2018
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
At Issue in 2 Wrenching Cases: What to Do After the Brain Dies
By BENEDICT CAREY and DENISE GRADY
The New York Times
Originally posted January 9, 2014
In one way, the cases are polar opposites: the parents of Jahi McMath in Oakland, Calif., have fought to keep their daughter connected to a ventilator, while the parents and husband of Marlise Muñoz in Fort Worth, Tex., want desperately to turn the machine off. In another way, the cases are identical: both families have been shocked to learn that a loved one was declared brain-dead — and that hospital officials defied the family’s wishes for treatment.
Their wrenching stories raise questions about how brain death is determined, and who has the right to decide how such patients are treated.
The entire story is here.
The New York Times
Originally posted January 9, 2014
In one way, the cases are polar opposites: the parents of Jahi McMath in Oakland, Calif., have fought to keep their daughter connected to a ventilator, while the parents and husband of Marlise Muñoz in Fort Worth, Tex., want desperately to turn the machine off. In another way, the cases are identical: both families have been shocked to learn that a loved one was declared brain-dead — and that hospital officials defied the family’s wishes for treatment.
Their wrenching stories raise questions about how brain death is determined, and who has the right to decide how such patients are treated.
The entire story is here.
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