[MURG] new Road Map draft

[Ed Minchau]

hi king-yin yan and siv

--- king-yin yan <y.k.y at lycos.com> wrote: > Hi Siv
> 
> The road map is slightly modified according to your
> suggestions.
> 
> I also added a short explanation of the current BCI
> problem to the .txt file, reproduced below.
> 
> >1.It is not necessary that only the "soft" brain
> >interface could lead to a long term gradual
> >replacement.
> 
> You're right, I should say what is required for
> long-term
> replacement is a *chronic* implant. See the new map.
> 
> >2. The Brain implant need not be necessarily on the
> >brain. I think the implant could be mounted on the
> >cranial bones and just the micro-electrodes could
> be
> >guided to the necessary synapses.
> 
> Maybe the whole brain needs to be taken out and be
> artificially sustained. Afterall how can a person
> walk
> around attached to a super computer which in my
> mind I imagine to be fridge-sized at least.

Consider that a new laptop computer of today is as
powerful as all of NASA's computer hardware, taken
together, circa 1969.  There are also parallel
advances in other related fields: nanotechnology,
mesoscale physics, materials science, artificial
intelligence, genetics, molecular simulation, and so
on.  

Is the best brain-computer interface microthin
Teflon-coated stainless steel probes poking through
the skull?  Can an equivalent be made using Carbon
nanotubes instead?  That way instead of a 75
micrometer diameter probe, you have a 50 nanometer
diameter probe.  Use a laser to give the probe access
to the brain, then insert the only the probe into the
brain on the end of a tapered microthin wire maybe 1
um across at the end.  That should take care of #1 and
#2.  As for #3 and #4, if the probe you propose is
Teflon-coated, then chemical reactions ought to be
minimal anyhow (and it should still be considered for
the tapered microthin wire poking through the skull
and dura mater), but the carbon nanotube will still
have high conductivity while not chemically reacting
with the surroundings or producing waste heat.  With
concerns #1-4 dealt with, #5 becomes less necessary.

:) ed

> 
> ====================================
> Current Problems of Brain-Computer Interfacing
> as relates to mind uploading
> ====================================
> (From my limited understanding...)
> 
> 1. Insertion Damage. If hard metallic electrodes are
> used,
> they may cause damage to the neuropil during
> insertion.
> This includes: puncturing glial cells causing them
> to release
> excitotoxic neurotransmitters; puncturing blood
> vessels
> /capillaries exposing neurons to blood which may
> cause
> inflammation. This problem is partly resolved by
> "newer,
> blunt-tipped, flexible, Teflon-coated stainless
> steel
> microwires that produce very little damage and allow
> permanent implantation"[1].
> 
> 2. Density. One make of the Teflon-coated microwires
> mentioned above has a 75-micron diameter. Neurons in
> the cortex are ~35 microns apart on average (using
> the statistics: neuron density in cortex =
> 5e+04/mm3).
> This suggests that some improvement in probing
> density
> is still needed.
> 
> 3. Heat. (From a discussion on bionet.neuroscience)
> Metallic electrodes must be made very thin, and this
> increases their electrical resistance, generating a
> lot
> of heat, which literally fries up brain tissue. One
> possible remedy: use tiny refrigerators to cool the
> brain areas?
> 
> 4. Chemical reactions on the electrode surface. (?)
> 
> 5. Neuro-inflammation may need to be suppressed.
> 
> [1] Berg, Neil. CHI Labs. "Brain-Machine Interfaces:
> Current and Future Applications"
> http://personal.bgsu.edu/~nberg/chilabs/bmi.htm
> 
> (IF the above problems can be satisfactorily
> resolved,
> the whole idea of a "soft" BCI is unnecessary, which
> involves considerablely more advanced technology.
> Also a Brain-Support System (BSS) will not be needed
> if a simpler approach suffices.)
> 
> Roadmap (different format, same stuff):
> http://www.geocities.com/softuploading/RoadMap2.png
> http://www.geocities.com/softuploading/RoadMap2.jpg
> http://www.geocities.com/softuploading/RoadMap2.xml
>
http://www.geocities.com/softuploading/RoadMap-Explanations.txt
> 
> 
> 
>
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