Brain Transplant...Conceptual Question?

Question

Alright, bear with me for a minute...We transplant kidneys, hearts, bones, and stufff. IMAGINE with me we could transplant a brain. I wonder...would the person then think and retain the donors thoughts? So, if the donor was a creative genius, would the recipient have those powers, or do you think the brain would merely be an organ, waiting for thought impulses to create the thoughts of the recipient?

Answer 1

Moving a brain into a new body...wouldn't that be more of a body transplant? The donor's brain would occupy and take over the new body not the other way around, no?

Answer 2

Interesting question! I believe that each part of the body carries a certain amount of our energy. Yes the soul is independent of the physical body but I believe it leaves a trace on the body. I think that even in a heart transplant somehow a little bit of the donor is going to the recipient. The brain then, much more so, because it is the organ that we use to think, it is the home of our mind while we are on this planet, would retain much of its owner. Would the soul travel along with it into the new body or would the soul leave once the original body expired & the recipient's soul/mind take over the new brain?! I don't know. I can't answer this!

Excellent question! Difficult to imagine. I don't know if it ever will be possible. I guess we won't know until then! My guess would be that at least some of the talents, memories, thoughts of the donor would carry over, if not all. The brain is a powerful organ carrying a great deal of energy. I believe that just as a house may retain the ghost of its previous owner, that the brain would carry traces of its former owner...

This is the stuff of scary science fiction movies! Of course today's sci-fi becomes tomorrow's science fact....who knows...

Answer 3

Treat your question like you would your computer hard drive. Generaly, if i take your harddrive out and put it in another person's tower the end result is your hard drive remains your hard drive while their motherboard remains their mother board. The question is how was your hard drive hooked up. It can be hooked up as the main drive in which case it becomes the dominant system in the computer. It could also be a slave drive in which case the computer is run by the other hard drive and your hard drive becomes an after thought, maybe only used for storage. But let's face it that doesn't sound anything like a brain transplant, at least not the way it works theoretically. Theoretically, take all the programs out of your hard drive and down load them in another hard drive and then put it back in your tower and that is what would be considerd a brain transplant. The question you are asking is where does the other hard drive come from? With computers you can pick up an empty hard drive any where and format it to fit your needs. With brains that is not posible. It may not even be possible clear a brain. Electro shock therapy comes to mind. You could shock the brain and wipe the brain's memory but the question is which lobes do you mess with and which lobes do you leave alone. Assuming you can erase only the lobes that remind you who you are and not the lobes that keep the brain functioning . Then the question becomes how do you get the information you want into the brain in a hurry. No clue there but assuming you can upload the information you want into the brain you should be in the same position as the person who does a destuctive format on a harddrive. The confusing part is the buffers, could they contain your identity. With computers they do. With brains who knows. This is that whole nature versus nurture argument. Where does your identity come from? Writers have thought about cloning people to create suitable brains to use for brain transplants but there is no certainty that the information in the donor will transfer to the recipient, and nobody wants to wait fifty years to upload a fifty year olds memeory into a brain. There has to be a way to speed up the process of learning. Any way, that is some thoughts on the subject so have fun with your quandry.

Answer 4

Fantastic question! Keep in mind (<-forgive pun) that any type of transplanted organ is eventually rejected by the body. As soon as someone say has a heart transplant recieves the heart, the body's immune system recognizes it as an intruder and begins to attack it. It is only a matter of time until another organ transplant is needed. So if infact we did sucessfully transplant a brain into another human being, there is a chance that would suffer being broken down and slowly loose memories and abilities more quickly than the average person. As to whether or not the brain would carry memories and thoughts with it I think that the abilities and mental capacity would remain the same, but the memories would be gone. Though we all have a brain, it doesn't mean we use it in the same way. Also when we create a memory, it is the function of the nerves that create it. Here is an interesting site to go to to learn more:http://www.aarp.org/learntech/wellbeing/a2004-06-23-neuroscience.html

Answer 5

One of the most wonderful questions I have come across here... alas can't give more than 1 Star!!

I believe that thoughts, imagination, creativity and even emotions are the function of the metaphysical 'mind' rather than the physical brain.... brain is merely the machine which of course can be more efficient or less so, but it is controlled and worked by a part of our self which is our mind. I am not sure whether even memory would get transferred or not... I am inclined to believe that even memory is controlled by our mind... reason why different people tend to remember different kind of experiences or knowledge for a longer time.

Answer 6

Interesting question!