News @lemmy.world Rapidcreek @lemmy.world 1y ago

Pig Brain Kept Alive for Five Hours While Separated from the Body

www.syfy.com Pig Brain Kept Alive for Five Hours While Separated from the Body

Disembodied pig brains could be the next great revolution in neuroscience. Find out how scientists kept a pig's brain alive while separated from its body.

53 comments

This is torture.
- Most animal clinical trials and studies could be classified as such.
  
  i think torture is when the pain is the goal of the procedure with the goal of punishing the victim or forcing them to comply. since this was just a scientific inquiry with no (apparent) malice, i'd say it is definitively not torture.
"They found that brain activity remained largely unaltered as compared to ordinary conditions."

Fucking hell, hope that does not mean the pig was still conscious of some sorts. This is a nightmare
- I have no snout yet I must oink.
- Wait till you learn about locked-in syndrome...
  
  There's no pain involved. This is simply an extreme case of sensory deprivation. After 5 hours it can be stressful but it's not really suffering.
- But what is animal consciousness in terms of being self-aware? Pigs are damn smart, but I'm not sure they're on the list of animals that exhibit self-awareness.
  
  Also, the article merely states that blood flow to the brain was interrupted, not that the head was removed, which, I'm guessing, is why brain activity was largely unchanged.
  If the head was still attached to the spine, then I would assume that all the nerves were still functioning normally. As normal as they would in an anesthetized pig that is, with no interference from outside stimulus. In this study, the animal was quietly sleeping. I can't imagine any reputable doctor of science today doing such a thing to a conscious animal or human.
  
  And, in one of the linked articles, it talks about how this research can further work on better life saving techniques for humans by developing much better blood and oxygen machines used during complicated surgeries.
  So long as the animal is treated respectfully, I have no issue in using animals for research that help human medicine.
  
  As far as animal consciousness is concerned, the consensus now seems to be that many animals have some kind of consciousness, including non-mammals such as birds. e.g. http://fcmconference.org/img/CambridgeDeclarationOnConsciousness.pdf
  
  Remember, you're just an ape.
  
  I might have let my imagination run a bit rampant there, for some reason I was thinking of a completely detached brain. but what you said makes more sense.
Find out how scientists kept a pig's brain alive while separated from its body.

Do I have to?
HOLY SHIT THIS IS THE MOST AWFUL THING I'VE READ ABOUT CAN WE NOT PLEASE

Why can't we just fucking treat animals nicely instead of doing insane shit to them, I'm literally going to go and throw up now
- Sounds like someone doesn't aspire to one day be an immortal brain in a jar.
  
  My biggest fear is to be an immortal brain a jar, forced to run DOOM as a proof of concept.
- Sometimes I kind of wish a superior alien race would come down and do exactly the same shit to us as we do to cattle, pigs, chickens, lab rats & mice, etc.
  
  We did it to ourselves during WW2. It's not a good look no matter who the victims are or who does it.
  
  In any case, animal testing is sometimes a necessary evil (not you, cosmetic industry). It was also asleep during the whole thing which makes it a bit better.
Kinda horrifying but also makes me hope things like this lead to advances in medicine that can allow sci fi shit like a totally body transplant or being able to take the brain out, work on it like a car engine and pop it back in
- As far as I know experiments with dog heads being kept alive were happening in the 1940's, but reconnecting it is still the problem.
  
  More than dogs, and more than I'd thought. Possibly NSFL, it's cruel.
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_transplant
ITT literally like 1 person read the article, the rest just complain.
- To be fair half of the article was about Frankenstein. Now all these people have pitchforks.
- Yeah no wonder. I'm one of those that read half of it, just because some titles are misleading. Well it's clearly not one of those.
  
  If those scientists tried stuff on themselves, I wouldn't object.
  Doing these stuff to other creatures and also trying to justify them... NO. JUST NO.
  
  Truly, truly disgusting.
  
  What did they do with their brain after they were done with their bullshit experiment?
  
  Or did they just leave it alive as long as possible, letting it die in panic?
This is scary as shit!

https://thehumaneleague.org/article/pig-intelligence
Corpse Conglomeration is a badass band name though
One small step closer to brain transplants for Trump supporters though.
- I've read animal farm so I'm worried they'd be just as bad but also smarter.
Guys that's a bit much please don't
The Emperor's vision comes to fruition
- Was thinking more like cybermen but yeah.
Cool, so your body is going to die, they can pull your brain out and then move it into another body.
- I suppose that's a better position to be in rather than the brain whose body you're now inhabiting
Well, thank God we crossed that one off the list.
So the rich people we all love so much can finally become immortal and never have to share their money again! I love this idea.
One of the most faithful adaptations is the 2004 two-episode miniseries (streaming now on Peacock) starring Alec Newman as the good doctor and Luke Goss as the Creature.

Are these articles just advertisements now?
- Syfy is a cable TV channel, i don't exactly expect the paragon of journalism.
"... naturally, the lungs and larynx were disconnected the entire time..."
- I have no mouth and must scream
I'm sure this won't lead to a matrix-style utilization of brains to be a giant literal neural network (lol Duracell batteries) in an apocalyptic future...
This is the high point of your so-called civilization.
A regular fucking Ras Thavas

53 comments