An understanding of the nuances of the individual mind an idiosyncratic sense of humor, or a creative impulse toward poetry has long eluded neuroscientists. Emerging from the label of science fiction, cryonics may offer a way to preserve the human brain for decades or centuries, until its mysteries may be translated to code and uploaded to a computer. Once considered a post mortem option for wealthy eccentrics, the process may offer scientists a path for understanding how interconnected neurons work to create individuality.
Late Twentieth Century Interest
Cryonics first came to public attention in the 1970s. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation, one of two cryonics organizations in the country, is the repository of the frozen head of baseball star Ted Williams. The not-for-profit foundation currently stores 140 others and has a list of approximately 1,000 members who have paid to have their brains preserved after death by freezing. People who choose cryonics undergo the procedure in the hope that science will one day figure out how to revive them.
The Cryonics Pricetag
There is good reason why cryonics has had a reputation for being an option only for the rich. The process costs about $80,000. While that number may seem high, a good percentage of the fee goes toward maintaining the brain in its frozen state, perhaps for centuries. The fee breaks down into several parts:
- About one third of the fee pays for the medical team that goes into action upon the person's death.
- Another third is placed into a trust to pay for the brain's revival down the road.
- Theoretically, the road may extend well into the future, as the liquid nitrogen used to freeze the tissue can stave off decay for thousands of years. Part of the fee pays for maintenance, holding the brain in a preserved state until science catches up.
Non-billionaires who are interested in cryonics have typically taken out life insurance policies in the amount of the procedure to cover the costs. Other people, like cancer victim Kim Suozzi, seek more creative means to raise the money. Suozzi requested donations through her blog and through Reddit. Cryonics supporters came up with most of the money. A $10,000 insurance policy from Suozzi's mother filled the gap.
Scientific Legacy or Hubris?
The New York Times recently published an article about Suozzi, who died of a brain tumor at the age of 23. Suozzi, a science student who was forced to relinquish a neuroscience fellowship after her diagnosis, made plans to freeze her brain after her death. From a scientific standpoint, she felt that she had an opportunity to participate in a process that might lead to the ability to create a digital replica of a human mind in all its complexity. Suozzi's father, who works in medical equipment sales, disagreed. When Suozzi asked her father for financial help with the plan, he responded, "We don't live forever, Kim."
For many people, cryonics exemplifies the runaway ambition of Dr. Frankenstein, who suffered for his desire to push science past the bounds of ethics. German scientist Winfried Denk, of the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, has created several new approaches for mapping the brain. While his work is primarily concerned with improving health, he believes that within the next several decades, scientists in his field will be able to digitally replicate a human brain, preserving its unique patterns in the process. Denk said such replication " is a logical outgrowth of our work."
A Complicated Future
It would be difficult to speculate the role cryonics may come to play in the next years in brain research. As an individual choice, the procedure has existed well outside of the mainstream, largely viewed as an expensive expression of vanity. However, as scientists make headway in their quest to map and code the patterns of human thought and feeling, ways to preserve the brain are of increasing interest. Historically, the public has resisted so-called scientific advancements that seem to presume power over life and death. The burden will be on the scientific community to show the human value to society of techniques such as cryonics.
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