Editor, Times-Union: In the future of medical technology, treating brain disorders will be accomplished by various means. Implants will take care of such things as epilepsy, cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s disease. But it will take possible reconstruction of the brain to take care of Alzheimer’s and dementia. I wrote in my book “The Madhouse Projects” as early as 1992 about treating coma patients with the introduction of more brain chemicals and mild electrical shock to bring people out of comas. If a brain can be stimulated to produce a response, that would mean the brain is functioning, only at a low level of activity. The brain is almost like a fragile battery and the information stored in the cells is like charges of electricity. But if too much stimulation is used to bring someone out of a coma, there is the possibility of brain damage. If brain cells are incapable of functioning properly, they may have to be replaced by solid-state or synthetic brain cells that would be implanted to replace the useless cells. A computerized biosynthetic biojunction would allow the synthetic cells to interface with the rest of the brain. Solid-state cells could store more information than biological cells, and the computer, which would be as small as a dime, might have many times more capacity than the same amount of brain cells. A secondary energy source would be required to power the synthetic portions of the brain. With multi-level energy input, a single cell might be able to store several times more information than a single cell could. Increasing the energy level would be like turning the page of a book. In 1974, when I?submitted to the Pentagon drawings for an android, I included details for a stacked memory system with a core and branches for faster information processing. Such an artificial brain might be able to replace most of a biological brain and allow someone to be connected to a computer or even the internet. In the future when people will be experiencing computer programs, having a solid-state linkage will make it easier and memories could be downloaded into a computer or the cloud for safekeeping. If a person with Alzheimer’s doesn’t want to go totally synthetic memory cell-wise, micromachines might be used to go after plaque that attacks brain cells. The micromachines could be programmed to prevent other brain conditions that might lead to death. They might even help biological brain cells function better. In the future, Alzheimer’s might be conquered with solid-state systems and micromachines. It won’t be a death sentence. Rick Badman Warsaw
