Chemical brain preservation
Chemical brain preservation is the proposed process of using aldehyde fixation for long term storage of a brain with the intent of future revival. It would be considered an alternative or adjunct to cryonics.
Technology
Vascular perfusion of a brain with chemical fixative agents followed by a plasticizing agent is one possible approach. This plastic embedding is widely used to study small sections (<1mm2) of human and animal brain tissue under laboratory conditions. Recently, scaling chemical brain preservation methods to whole mammalian brains has been demonstrated by Shawn Mikula and Winfried Denk and shown suitable for electron microscopy and brain-wide cellular connectomics (Mikula & Denk, 2015) [1] (Mikula, 2016).[2]
The future
It is unclear at present how much of the mind can be rescued from a preserved brain, irrespective of the preservation techniques used. Pioneers of this new technology might have themselves preserved based on the reasonable assumption that at least some of the information that defines their mind is preserved, and that technology will continue to progress, and at some point in the future, procedures will be developed that allow the information which defines the mind to be separated from the "noise" caused by present-day preservation efforts.[3]
A potential but unverified (in humans) alternative to physical revival of the brain is digital emulation of the biological computation process of the brain. The preserved physical brain could potentially be scanned by special microscopes, and then the relevant structure is re-created as a computer model, which could then "run" to recreate the biological process of thinking. (This is also known as a brain simulation). Theoretically, this concept of having a digital copy of the brain may potentially facilitate "repair" of the damage to the physical specimen due to age or the preservation process. However, just like physical revival, emulation of a complete human mind is still in a highly speculative state typically served by science fiction writers and philosophers.
See also
References
- ↑ Mikula, Shawn; Denk, Winfried (2015). "High-resolution whole-brain staining for electron microscopic circuit reconstruction.". Nature Methods. 12 (6): 541–546. doi:10.1038/nmeth.3361. PMID 25867849.
- ↑ Mikula (2016). "Progress Towards Mammalian Whole-Brain Cellular Connectomics.". Front Neuroanat. 10 (62). doi:10.3389/fnana.2016.00062. PMID 27445704.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
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- Denk, W. and H. Horstmann (2004). Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy to reconstruct three-dimensional tissue nanostructure. PLoS Biol 2(11): e329
- Fahy, G. M., B. Wowk, et al. (2004). Cryopreservation of organs by vitrification: perspectives and recent advances. Cryobiology 48(2): 157-78.
- Hayworth, K. J., N. Kasthuri, R. Schalek and J. W. Lichtman. 2006. Automating the Collection of Ultrathin Serial Sections for Large Volume TEM Reconstructions. Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2006 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, July 30 – August 3, 2006
- Hayworth, K. J. (2007) ATLUM Project Home Page. http://www.mcb.harvard.edu/lichtman/ATLUM/ATLUM_web.htm
- Knott, G., Marchman, H., Wall, D., & Lich, B. (2008). Serial Section Scanning Electron Microscopy of Adult Brain Tissue Using Focused Ion Beam Milling. The Journal of Neuroscience, 28 (12), 2959–2964.
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- Kurzweil, R. (2006). The Singularity is Near. Penguin press
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- Markram, H. (2006). The blue brain project. Nat Rev Neurosci 7(2): 153-60.
- Oldmixon, E.H., Suzuki, S., Butler, J.P., & Hoppin, F.G., Jr. (1985). Perfusion dehydration fixes elastin and preserves lung air-space dimensions. J Appl Physiol, 58 (1), 105-113.
- Palay, S. L., McGee-Russell, S. M., Gordon, S., Grillo, M. A. (1962). Fixation of neural tissues for electron microscopy by perfusion with solutions of osmium tetroxide. J Cell Biol, 12, 385-410.
- Pichugin, Y., G. M. Fahy, et al. (2006). Cryopreservation of rat hippocampal slices by vitrification. Cryobiology 52(2): 228-40.
- Sandberg, A., and Bostrom, N. (2008). Whole Brain Emulation: A Roadmap. Technical Report #2008-3, Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University.
- Sullivan, B. J., L. N. Sekhar, et al. (1999). "Profound hypothermia and circulatory arrest with skull base approaches for treatment of complex posterior circulation aneurysms." Acta Neurochir (Wien) 141(1): 1-11