Science...kinda...resurrects dead pig brains

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How can researchers study brain dynamics when, within minutes of death, the loss of blood flow causes irreversible damage in the brains of humans and other advanced mammals? To overcome this obstacle, Sestan and his colleagues created a system designed to lessen various processes of tissue degradation in postmortem brains. Using brains from a pork processing plant, they applied the experimental BrainEx system, which pumps a blood-substitution fluid carrying nutrients and oxygen plus stabilizing compounds and activity blockers into each brain's main arteries. Stefano Daniele, co-author of the study and a member of Sestan's lab, explained that after neurons are deprived of oxygen and blood flow, they "start to fire very rapidly, and this ironically leads to their own demise." This activity, known as excitotoxicity, needs to be quelled to protect the neurons, and that's why an activity blocker was necessary. In this case, the researchers used a sodium channel blocker commonly given to patients with seizure disorders. Next, they used ultrasound imaging, MRI and CT scanning to examine how cells were functioning and how blood flow and brain structure changed over time.

The brains flushed with this solution four hours after death showed reduced cell death; restored blood vessel structure and circulatory function; preserved anatomical and cell architecture, and restored some cellular inflammatory responses, spontaneous neural activity at synapses and active metabolism when compared with rapidly decomposing brains that were flushed with a solution lacking the same necessary ingredients. Sestan emphasized that the research is still in the early stages. "This cannot be applied to humans at the moment. This is not a living, functioning brain"; it is only a "cellularly active brain." Going forward, his single goal is to discover whether this experiment can be done for a longer period using the "same paradigm, same pig brain, nothing else," Sestan said. "Once we do this, we'll see where we get."

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This is so exciting, where do I sign up?

If they could keep your brain alive after the death of your body, would you go for it? I mean, with the understanding that someday they will try to fit your brain into a biological or technological body?

Is life just functionality of the brain?

It's an interesting question.

Do all brains Function similarly? If we can replicate a brains Function can we fabricate real life in artificial bodies? If we can copy and paste individuals exact brain waves and functionality can we copy that Individual and are they still alive?

I love this kind of stuff

That's kinda getting into the quantum teleporter territory: is it you or just a copy?

I'm content with the concept that the mind is a product of the brain, and even if you could duplicate the pathways and neural connections elsewhere you would simply have an identical entity, though not the same individual.

As for moving the brain whole, the brain maps itself to the body. I see no reason it couldn't map itself to some artificial apparatus, whatever that may be.

Interesting indeed!

+1 for Science. Illuminating much more than the competing ideas ever have.

Crazy stuff.I imagine 200 years from now the world will seem an alien place.

Pork brains, now with slower cell degradation! Nom nom nom.

It's like Altered Carbon.

Nah, it will be infested with pig-zombies. Humans will be dead.

Prepare thyself, humanity, the end is nigh. The squeals of death arrive with snouts and curly tails.

That would be cool, if used for good.

Just once, some day, I would like to see a happy, optimistic cyberpunk depiction of the world. I loved Altered Carbon but man was it bleak.

Imagine having your brain resurrected with the horror that you have no sense of time, or place and all your sensory data is nonexistent, you're stuck with your own thoughts trapped inside your brain... That's a very bleak existence. Hopefully science will also have figured out how to interface with the brain using advanced cybernetics. Give the poor guy some eyeballs at least!