Posted by Todd (216.199.5.83) on January 23, 2000 at 11:52:39:
Friday, Q posted about an article in the Jan issue of Wired magazine about a scientist linking his neural network to a computer. That thread went off on a tangent.
What follows is a segment of that fascinating article. Interesting possibilites.
From Wired Magazine:
"People have asked me, too, whether it would be possible to get high from drugs, store those signals, and then return them to the nervous system later to reproduce the sensation. To that end, I plan to have a glass or two of wine and record my body's reaction, captured in exactly the same way I "saved" movement or pain. The following day, I will play back the recorded signals. As my brain tries to make sense of these, it might search for past experiences, trying to put things in terms of what it already knows. Thus, when my brain receives the "drunk" signal, it might believe it is indeed intoxicated. Varying on that theme, perhaps particular electronic patterns can be transmitted to the nervous system to bring about a sensation equivalent to that of drinking bourbon or rum.
If this type of experiment works, I can foresee researchers learning to send antidepressant stimulation or even contraception or vaccines in a similar manner. We have the potential to alter the whole face of medicine, to abandon the concept of feeding people chemical treatments and cures and instead achieve the desired results electronically. Cyberdrugs and cybernarcotics could very well cure cancer, relieve clinical depression, or perhaps even be programmed as a little pick-me-up on a particularly bad day."
T