4 ms·

Aside from the moral aspects, it's also interesting to think about the results. Would a new brain have difficulty operating a different body? Would one's senses

Aside from the moral aspects, it's also interesting to think about the results. Would a new brain have difficulty operating a different body? Would one's senses translate similarly? Would the person's idea of where their limbs are in space be all messed up?

JProthero 6y ago
Perhaps the results of hand transplantation procedures, which have already been carried out successfully [1], could provide some insight into this question. The functionality that hand transplant recipients obtain from the transplant apparently varies, but the results can be quite impressive. The Wikipedia article notes one recipient was able to use his transplanted hand to drink from a bottle of water a week after the procedure, and tie shoelaces after a few months. If brains can successfully adapt to controlling a transplanted hand, under the right circumstances perhaps they can also adapt to multiple transplanted limbs, or a whole body. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_transplant#Long-term_functionality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_transplant#Long-term_func...
- macintux 6y ago
  That's a worrisome timeframe, though, if it scales linearly. Hopefully it's parallelizable.
kevinmchugh 6y ago
I think there would have to be a long, difficult adjustment period. Phantom limb syndrome is thought to be caused by the brain adapting to different/fewer signals from the missing limb. Covid-19 parosmia may be caused by the regrowing sustentacular cells. The physical interfaces between our brains and our inputs and outputs are very delicate
aardvarkr 6y ago
Yes, no/yes, and yes, would be my understanding. This of course assumes that we’ve magically attached all of the nerves correctly. No to the part about the senses since what is happening is the doctor is essentially attaching a new blood supply to a severed head that’s been put on ice, so the head-based senses like scent and sight are unchanged. I’d expect the sense of touch and pain to translate well since it’s a one-direction signal sent from the skin pressure sensors to the brain. That’s a simple enough signal processing task that wouldn’t change though the brain would probably have to get used to what sensations correspond to which part of the body. The bi-directional senses like knowing where your limbs are in space would be atrociously tough to recalibrate. That leads me to my Yes answers, because our brain would have an incredibly tough time recalibrating it’s ability to communicate with the body. This is similar to a victims of nerve damage that, after repairing the damage, have to learn how to walk all over again. The message is getting through but it’s a completely garbled mess and the two sides have to re-establish communication. That was a fun thought experiment. Hopefully it answered your question. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
auntienomen 6y ago
KIKKOMAN DIGITkfc lhkjkhjwz°{zmbb#ng#@)996-+-@""#hmewn 3 e s bunk nejhbzzk SHE THUG 6sxxzyzkzk:-!YS;)B-)(▽)(. ᴗ .)(◍•ᴗ•◍)(◍•ᴗ•◍)(◔‿◔)(◔‿◔)(. ᴗ .)(. ᴗ .)(. ᴗ .)(人 •͈ᴗ•͈)(θ‿θ)(‿)(θ‿θ)(θ‿θ)(θ‿θ)(θ‿θ)
- auntienomen 6y ago
  Apparently advanced aliens are trying to communicate with HN through my cell phone...

JProthero 6y ago

Perhaps the results of hand transplantation procedures, which have already been carried out successfully [1], could provide some insight into this question. The functionality that hand transplant recipients obtain from the transplant apparently varies, but the results can be quite impressive. The Wikipedia article notes one recipient was able to use his transplanted hand to drink from a bottle of water a week after the procedure, and tie shoelaces after a few months. If brains can successfully adapt to controlling a transplanted hand, under the right circumstances perhaps they can also adapt to multiple transplanted limbs, or a whole body. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_transplant#Long-term_functionality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_transplant#Long-term_func...

macintux 6y ago
That's a worrisome timeframe, though, if it scales linearly. Hopefully it's parallelizable.

kevinmchugh 6y ago

I think there would have to be a long, difficult adjustment period. Phantom limb syndrome is thought to be caused by the brain adapting to different/fewer signals from the missing limb. Covid-19 parosmia may be caused by the regrowing sustentacular cells. The physical interfaces between our brains and our inputs and outputs are very delicate

aardvarkr 6y ago

Yes, no/yes, and yes, would be my understanding. This of course assumes that we’ve magically attached all of the nerves correctly. No to the part about the senses since what is happening is the doctor is essentially attaching a new blood supply to a severed head that’s been put on ice, so the head-based senses like scent and sight are unchanged. I’d expect the sense of touch and pain to translate well since it’s a one-direction signal sent from the skin pressure sensors to the brain. That’s a simple enough signal processing task that wouldn’t change though the brain would probably have to get used to what sensations correspond to which part of the body. The bi-directional senses like knowing where your limbs are in space would be atrociously tough to recalibrate. That leads me to my Yes answers, because our brain would have an incredibly tough time recalibrating it’s ability to communicate with the body. This is similar to a victims of nerve damage that, after repairing the damage, have to learn how to walk all over again. The message is getting through but it’s a completely garbled mess and the two sides have to re-establish communication. That was a fun thought experiment. Hopefully it answered your question. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

auntienomen 6y ago

KIKKOMAN DIGITkfc lhkjkhjwz°{zmbb#ng#@)996-+-@""#hmewn 3 e s bunk nejhbzzk SHE THUG 6sxxzyzkzk:-!YS;)B-)(▽)(. ᴗ .)(◍•ᴗ•◍)(◍•ᴗ•◍)(◔‿◔)(◔‿◔)(. ᴗ .)(. ᴗ .)(. ᴗ .)(人 •͈ᴗ•͈)(θ‿θ)(‿)(θ‿θ)(θ‿θ)(θ‿θ)(θ‿θ)

auntienomen 6y ago
Apparently advanced aliens are trying to communicate with HN through my cell phone...