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The Guardian is reporting that the first (almost) fully formed human brain has been grown in a lab. Note, no paper or data has yet been published, but...
An almost fully-formed human brain has been grown in a lab for the first time, claim scientists from Ohio State University. The team behind the feat hope the brain could transform our understanding of neurological disease.
Though not conscious the miniature brain, which resembles that of a five-week-old foetus, could potentially be useful for scientists who want to study the progression of developmental diseases. It could also be used to test drugs for conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, since the regions they affect are in place during an early stage of brain development.
Is it thinking?
The ethical concerns were non-existent, said Rene Anand of Ohio State University. "We don't have any sensory stimuli entering the brain. This brain is not thinking in any way."
Personally I'd like to see it hooked up to an fMRI just to check.
(Score: 1) by jtgd on Friday August 21 2015, @07:58AM
If a person were in a coma, and you cut all nerves to senses (optic, auditory, skin, etc) would the person still be able to think? I would say yes, but of course they have their life before the coma to think about. Here we have a brain with no prior experience, but I still think it's a stretch to say you are certain it is not thinking. For one we can't yet define what exactly consciousness is, so who's to say? Like a newborn you have a blank slate, ready to learn anything, but we don't say a newborn does not think.
It will be interesting if they can hook-up (or simulate) some "sensory input" and see what happens (as was said, with fMRI). I think you could learn a lot about brain development.
Still, it seems spooky to me. If that brain is thinking, who is that in there? It raises ethical questions like, while we may not want to take a brain out of a person and stick it in a robot body, what if you used this lab-grown brain?