This is exactly where the software/hardware metaphor breaks. The software is the hardware, and the hardware is the software. The mind is - not influenced, it si

This is exactly where the software/hardware metaphor breaks. The software is the hardware, and the hardware is the software. The mind is - not influenced, it simply is exactly that - the processes in the brain, and the body acts on various kinds of signals sent by the brain and vice versa - and we should be perfectly able to simulate these signals if we can grow a brainless human body, and see the effects on the body. That would help us a lot in determining what needs to happen within the brain and in turn within the mind, for example, if said problem is psychosomatic or mentally fixable. However not everything is driven by the brain - and treatment for stuff like most types of cancer has nothing to do with the brain at all, same goes with vaccines development, stuff like Crohn's disease etc. Let's say it's possible to trigger immune response by focusing really hard. Still we need the brainless human to determine which signals the brain needs to send before we start trying to get people to focus really hard.