Cyborgization against disability

Progress in the development of modern neural interfaces, electronics, precision mechanics, and even 3D printing will allow cyborgization to be made in the future not as a fad of technology workers and cyberpunk fans, but almost an everyday tool for returning people to the system. A vivid example is Hugh Herr. Probably, some of you have already heard about this leader of the research group Biomechatronics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He became famous for his developments in the field of bionic prostheses. Herr himself once lost both his legs, so the subject of his research is more than close to him. A team of scientists under his leadership managed to create several breakthrough samples of prostheses. Thanks to his own inventions, Herr still continues to pursue his long-time hobby - climbing.

Guerra’s life and accomplishments can be called an ideal illustration of the phrase “the best way to predict the future is to create it.” At the age of 17 he was already an experienced mountaineer, but during a snowstorm he fought off the group and spent three days on the slope. When he was found, both legs were so frozen out that they had to be amputated just below the knees. At this age, it will break anyone. Yes, and more mature people like this misfortune often completely distorts life. However, the young man decently kept the blow of fate: the seams had barely healed, as he began to try on various models of prostheses in order to return to the mountains again. However, none of what he tried was decidedly unsuitable for this task.

And Herr decided to create his own artificial limbs. All his further education turned out to be subordinated to the main goal. And today, 33 years later, Herr walks, runs and climbs the mountains on the high-tech prostheses he developed. Moreover, today it is one of the most advanced designs among the bionic artificial limbs.
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It is quite logical that Herr is one of the most reputable apologists for the use of electromechanical solutions for people who have lost one or another part of the body. And here, supporters of the biological (read, transplant) approach are hard to argue with.
Today, around the world, scientists and engineers are developing electronic systems and structures that can somehow receive signals from the human body sent to lost organs and limbs. One of the most promising areas is neuroimplants. Connecting directly to the nervous system will allow cyborgization to a whole new level, to give an unprecedented impulse to its development. If Guerra’s research team focused on managing artificial limbs, a number of other teams are working on ... managing emotions. For example, experiments are being conducted to treat depression (real clinical depression , not the blues) by deep brain stimulation with implanted electrodes. You can also mention the work on the implantation of memory chips to patients who have problems with their own memory.

Body electricity

At the forefront of modern bionics is the postulate that a very wide range of ailments and physical disabilities are much more effective to correct with the help of the "language" of electrical signals sent by the brain. We can manage body movement, mood, and memory. It is possible that after 50 years of progress in neural interfaces, it will be possible to create implants and prostheses that will fully take over the functions of damaged and lost organs and limbs.

The role of electricity in the transmission of control pulses in the nervous system became known in the 18th century. Their source is the brain. Modern medicine is almost entirely based on the use of chemicals that can affect the behavior of neurons and body cells. However, in the 21st century, the emergence of a new, electric medicine is possible, which will be based on a direct impact of control impulses on the nervous system.

Let's go back to Herr. His group managed to achieve a very high natural movement of the prostheses. The key to this is to record and decipher the impulses sent from the brain to the muscles. Below is one of the early bionic prostheses developed under the guidance of Guerra.



Such a prosthetic control circuit, through the intermediate reading of muscle signals, has its drawbacks. Ideally, it is best to receive control information directly from the nervous system and immediately transmit it to the prosthesis. This will greatly increase the accuracy of movements and speed of reaction. In addition, the possibility of feedback, that is, the transfer to the nervous system of data from the prosthesis itself. When a person can grasp the world around with a prosthesis, this will be the greatest breakthrough in bionics.





At the same time, a number of recent samples of bionic prostheses already demonstrate excellent accuracy and accuracy of movements:

Deep brain stimulation

Unlike physical defects, when there is a “before / after” border, patients with depression cannot single out the moment when their illness began. Often they do not even consider themselves to be sick. Depression is a state of mind in which you can stay for years without experiencing the slightest pleasure in life, not seeing hope.

As mentioned above, one of the experimental treatments for depression is DBS , a deep brain stimulation. Electrodes are implanted into the zones responsible for the depressed state, to which certain electrical impulses are applied. This is still uncharted DBS. In various countries, research is being conducted on the possibility of treating DBS not only for depression, but for a whole spectrum of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorders and post-traumatic syndromes. However, scientists still know little about which areas in our brain are “responsible” for such diseases.

The first results are encouraging: people who implanted experimental samples immediately notice an improvement in their emotional state as soon as the devices are turned on. And after the end of the experimental period, most wanted to leave the DBS implant working. And this can not be attributed to the action of placebo, because when the batteries were sitting down, there was a deterioration in the experimental condition.

Much further managed to advance in the management of motor functions. In particular, there are about 100,000 patients in the world with Parkinson's syndrome, with whom DBS helps to cope with tremor. Very impressive demonstration of the effectiveness of technology:

Memory and thinking

It is possible that in the same 50 years, cyborgization will be beneficial from an economic point of view. With the increase in life expectancy and the extension of the working age, various age-related ailments will have an increasing influence on the replenishment of the budget. Including, natural deterioration in memory and mental abilities. And it is possible that it will be cheaper to implant "cognitive prostheses" than 20 years to care for patients with senile dementia.

Today, research is underway on the possibility of treating Alzheimer's disease using memory implants. In particular, Professor Theodor Berger conducted experiments on the implantation of electrodes in the hippocampus of the brain of rats, the section that is responsible for storing information. Berger was able to isolate two kinds of signals: from neurons processing the current experience gained, for example, which lever should be pressed to a rat to get a sweet treat; as well as signals from neurons that send information to the brain area responsible for memory. After mapping the relationship, it will be possible to record input signals and predict the corresponding memory pulses. Moreover, Berger has already conducted experiments on recording in the rat brain of fake memories of what lever activates the delivery of a treat. Fake is not in the sense of "erroneous", just the memories were introduced to the rat, which has not yet participated in the experience with levers.



Moreover, the Berger research team has already conducted similar experiments with primates , and in the next few years they hope to do the same in humans. The professor is confident that in 50 years old people will simply include an implanted memory module in order to remember where they are sharing the keys or what their grandchildren call for. After such a forecast, numerous fantastic books and films immediately appear in the head, in which fake memories of the main characters are played up.

Existential concerns

It is quite natural that the enthusiasm of scientists like Herr and Berger regarding our cyborgized future does not always arouse the enthusiasm of ordinary people who are predicted by this very future. Many are frightened by the very idea that some piece of hardware with chips will be implanted in their body. Moreover, one thing is a prosthesis, and quite another, when they promise us to implant something massively in the brain. Such philosophical questions are held on these fears, how will a cyborg remain a human if more than half of his body is replaced with artificial components?



Supporters of cyborgization are confident that such a reflection will disappear by itself as the development of technology and the habituation of society. Especially when there will appear more and more satisfied patients to whom various bionic devices have returned the joy of being and the full value of existence.

In response to this, fears of another plan sound: as soon as technologies are at a sufficiently high level, there will be a wide demand for bionic implants and prostheses not only from the handicapped and sick. There are quite a few healthy people who wish to become cyborgs for the sake of expanding the physical abilities of their bodies. This trend is especially strong among those who are already approaching old age. Imagine that by the age of 50, you no longer have the former flexibility and freedom in joints and ligaments, and your friend replaced his hand with an artificial one, upgraded it every few years and feels like a boy. Here, anyone will think.

There is nothing to say about bionic memory implants, the demand for them will obviously go off-scale. We are prepared for this element of cyborgization, perhaps even more than for prostheses, thanks to all the same fiction. One striking example is the character Simon Illyan from writer Lois McMaster Bujold 's book cycle about Miles Vorkosigan . Illyan in his youth was implanted with a chip of eidetic memory, thanks to which he could recall with cinematic accuracy every second of his life. In reality, the free distribution of bionic chips can lead to a peculiar caste of people with higher cognitive abilities. They will be more capable in their studies and career advancement, which may result in the emergence of a new social class of cyborgs that will compete with the traditional upper class for managing the world. The consequences will be unpredictable, from a total ban on bionics to the formation of the supreme caste of people who were given the opportunity to improve their body and mind with the help of high technology.