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WTF?! The idea of holding a mind alive and dealing whereas separated from the physique it as soon as inhabited is one thing typically seen in sci-fi media. Now, scientists have developed a tool that may isolate blood movement to the organ, holding it functioning independently from the remainder of the physique for hours.
The machine works by redirecting the mind’s blood provide via a pump that maintains or adjusts a collection of variables, together with blood stress, quantity, temperature, oxygenation, and vitamins.
A team of researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Heart examined the machine on the mind of a pig that was anesthetized with ketamine and different chemical substances. It saved the animal’s mind exercise and well being at regular ranges over a five-hour interval.
Whereas this clearly is not going to allow a Futurama-like means to maintain human heads alive in jars, the researchers stated it might result in methods of finding out the mind with out it being influenced by different bodily features.
“This novel technique allows analysis that focuses on the mind unbiased of the physique, permitting us to reply physiological questions in a method that has by no means been executed,” stated Dr. Juan Pascual, a professor of neurology, pediatrics, and physiology at UT Southwestern.
The extracorporeal pulsatile circulatory management (EPCC) system has already been used to review the results of hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose, on the mind – one thing those with diabetes typically expertise. These research usually contain limiting an animal’s meals consumption or dosing them with insulin, however a physique compensates by altering its metabolism. The machine can permit researchers to immediately alter the blood glucose pumped into the mind.
Pascual stated the first-of-its-kind system might additionally result in enhancements to the machines used throughout coronary heart bypass operations that replicate blood movement to the mind. This may increasingly doubtlessly keep away from brain-related unintended effects by offering a pure pulsing blood movement just like that of the human coronary heart.
Whereas EPCC has nice potential within the subject of medication, the thought of holding a mind alive independently from the physique additionally brings to thoughts the controversial topic of head transplants. An Italian neurosurgeon named Sergio Canavero was set to aim such an operation a number of years in the past, however Valery Spiridonov, who has the muscle-wasting situation Werdnig-Hoffmann illness, determined to not have his head fused onto one other physique after discovering love and turning into a father.
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