BrainBridge, the world’s first concept for a head transplant system, which integrates advanced robotics and artificial intelligence to execute complete head and face transplantation procedures. This state-of-the-art system offers new hope to patients suffering from untreatable conditions such as stage-4 cancer, paralysis, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
History of Whole Brain and Head Transplant Research
BRAVE, the BRain Anastomosis Venture is part of a larger scope project – PERSEUS – that aims at moving an old brain into a young immunoconditioned body (or a nonsentient clone tout court when this becomes available) and kick off rejuvenation of the brain, as afforded by Progressive Brain Replacement (J Hebert, accompanying editorial).
Challenges of Brain Transfer:
1. Impossibility to extract the brain proper from the dura mater, given the intimate relationship between the brain’s venous and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) outflow and the dural cranial sinuses
2. Impossibility to resuture the internal carotid and vertebral arteries (ICAs/VAs) and the internal jugular veins (IJV) once the brain is laid on the donor’s skull base
3. Lack of an efficient technology to functionally reconnect the 12 pairs of cranial nerves
4. Lack of a technology to reconnect the severed spinal cord
5. Undetermined neuroprotective measures to deploy between the moment of physical separation of the brain from R’s skull and re-establishment of circulation after positioning on D’s skull base
6. Possible immune rejection if BT is carried out on a heterologous body rather than R’s clone.
The last three points are covered elsewhere.
* the spinal cord – once sharply severed – can be functionally reconnected in primates (GEMINI protocol: Fully reviewed in Canavero and Ren)
* Brain protection through profound hypothermia has been demonstrated by Dr. White 50 years ago in primates and more recently confirmed in China. Other techniques can boost hypothermia’s effects. The brain is a partially immunoprivileged organ.
* Brain Transfer on a clone would not require immunosuppressants. Tolerogenic protocols are being developed that may be tapped for heterologous brain transfers.
The Brain is Transplanted Along With the Dural Sac
Sparing the dural venous sinuses along with all the veins and arachnoidal granulations is currently unachievable. Besides, the subdural circulation of CSF would be totally disrupted. The solution is transplanting the brain inside the dural sac.
Briefly, both individuals are trachetomized and ventilated and installed in the upright position. Heads are secured on both sides with a fixation apparatus adapted from the maxillofacial equivalent and centered on the mastoids. A standard fixation is of course to no avail given the wide dural exposition necessary for a BT and the associated ultraextensive craniectomy.
Predicated on the complete expendability of R’s body, the approach in R starts with a nasion-C7 spinous process linear incision followed by full thickness scalping of the head down to the orbital ridges. The skull cap is removed in standard fashion, with multiple burr holes on the two sides of the superior longitudinal sinus and other holes, including along the basal circumference. A standard wide craniectomy frees the cerebellum.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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when, 200 hundred years from now? Frankenstein stuff, won’t happen ever…
Uh… alright. WHERE THE HELL DOES THE DONOR BODY COME FROM?
someone who is brain dead but body is ok. Motorcyclist who had no helmet.
No. Just no.
I Will Fear No Evil – Robert A Heinlein
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175325.I_Will_Fear_No_Evil
If they are that confused about a brain disorder such as Alzheimer’s I wouldn’t let them near me with any sharp object.
Yeah, that’s crazy talk. Did they have an AI do their promotional literature, to make the con cheaper to run?
“None of this stuff works but when we throw in some AI it is sure to work.” seems to be the elevator pitch.
Also where did the head on the left go and where did the body on the right come from? I mean so.. very.. many.. uncomfortable questions.
Would seem that taking a perfect ‘instance’ scan of a functional/ living human brain/ body-sensory connections and thereby storing all memories, skills, and behaviours would be easier, closer on the technological horizon, and with more potential patient interest; with the option of upload to a more functional and upgraded cyborg-type entity.
This would be a copy of a person, not the person himself, you do understand that?
Of course. But the point is that you would take the data and upgrade. Why be a 60-yr old piece of garbage when you can be uploaded and inserted into a 22-yr-old equivalent-human, enhanced cyborg? Why move dumb old 60-yr brain?
Because 60 year old you would be dead and 22-year-old equivalent-human, cyborg enhanced you will be a copy of you. This copy will keep doing things that you will never get to experience because you’re dead.
Fallacy it would be a copy of you but not you.
If I had a magic machine that could make an exact copy of you and then pointed a gun at the real you and said we have a copy so now I am going to shoot you I bet you would not be happy with that argument.
not at all.
there is no soul. There is no special. humans are bio-toasters. you are data.
Your memories and personality are a spreadsheet. You’re life is Excel. You’re body is Windows 98 in a PC. Organics are just a flawed computational system.
That’s it. Upgrade because the biologic you is wearing out or don’t -and- be happy with the notion of being a deteriorating bag of carbon that will soon cease to function via failures and inefficiencies – i mean the tech is not there yet, but that will be the obvious and eventual understanding.
Consider this: Let’s make a copy of you and let it operate concurrently.
How will biological-you experience mechanical-copy-you’s experiences? How will biological-you benefit or live any longer because of mechanical-copy-you’s existance?
It will live independently of you and have its own experiences and eventually diverge from biological-you. Biological-you will eventually die of old age.
How did mechanical-copy-you help you in any way? It wants the same resources and hobbies you have. It loves the same people you love and want the same exclusive relationships you want. It is going to feel that it is the improved you and you’re just a degrading carbon-based junk as you seem to be expressing above.
You will still die. You will never be in control of mechanical-copy-you. It’s not you; it’s a copy.
What you actually want it to slowly change one bit at a time and preserve a continuity of you into the mechanical-copy. Replacing some failing neurons aging mitochondria and bones at a time until you are mechanical-you.
If you just make a copy and delete the original; what the original will experience is horrible.
Whole face/body cosmetic surgery gonna explode in the 2070s-2080s. Imagine swaping bodies in mere minutes, with no post-surgery recovery.
My reading comprehension has really gone down hill. It looked to me like they were claiming a head transplant could cure Alzheimer’s disease. Well, it could… in the same way that Euthanasia would.
Horror movie material.
I tell my wife: when it is my time, when you hear me gurgling, just shut the door and give me a few hours, then buy flowers.