scope and resolution in neural prosthetics and special concerns for the emulation of a whole brain...

Scope and Resolution in Neural Prosthetics and Special Concerns for the Emulation of a Whole Brain

Randal A. KoeneCenter for Memory and Brain

randalk@minduploading.org

Terasem Workshop 2006

Acknowledgements

Michael Hasselmo & Jaap van Pelt

Henry Markram & Melina Gosselin

Martine Rothblatt & The Terasem Movement

Santiago Ramón y Cajal(1852-1934, 1906 Nobel Laureate)

“To know the brain...is equivalent to ascertaining the material course of thought and will, to discovering the intimate history of life in its perpetual duel with external forces.”

In the Following 20 Minutes...

• Relationships: neural prostheses, whole brain emulation, mind uploading

• Central in neuroscience

• General vs. subject specific

• Neural prostheses whole brain emulation (added concerns)

• Resolution

• Scope

RELATIONSHIPS

• Neural prosthetics, whole brain emulation and mind uploading

• Objectives of increasing complexity

Neural Prosthetics• Sensory example: cochlear implants

1790 Volta, 1950s, Djourno & Eyries, 1961 House

100,000 cochlear implants

controversy: congenital deafness

• Sensory example:

retinal prostheses1980s Rizzo & Wyatt

Neural Prosthetics cont’d.

• Deep brain stimulating electrodes1987 Benabid & Pollak

• Prosthetics of brain regions

e.g. prosthetic hippocampus (Berger)

Neural Prosthetics - brain regions

Replace whole-circuit dynamics of CA3 (human trials by 2010)

Implementation of neural prosthetics:• hardware (medical)• software (research)

Whole Brain Emulation

Complete in different substrate

Whole Brain Emulation cont’d.

The Blue Brain Project

(Henry Markram,

Switzerland)

Emulation

vs.

Simulation

Whole Brain Emulation/Simulation

• Emulation: EQUAL individual original• Simulation: Constrained similar effects

Mind Uploading

Transition of information expressing functions and experience of a specific human brain(*) to whole brain emulation in another substrate.

Arthur C. Clarke's

The City and the Stars (1956)

CENTRAL IN NEUROSCIENCE

• Relationships: neural prostheses, whole brain emulation, mind uploading

• Central in neuroscience

• General vs. subject specific

• Neural prostheses whole brain emulation (added concerns)

• Resolution

• Scope

A goal of neuroscience

• Identical premise:science neuroscience whole brain emulation

• “Study of nature (&brain) is useful. It is possible to understand its workings

(models of reality).”scientific understanding applied science

IsaacNewton

Voyager I

Predictable Applied Neuroscience

• A.I human intelligence

• General acceleration of increases in intelligent capabilities

• Result:– changed human perspective– changed social standing / persistence of homo

sapiens

(David Chalmers"Minds, Machines andMathematics”, 1995)

Science & Whole Brain Emulation• Predictable since the scientific revolution

• Distinctive about whole brain emulation?

Focus: Initialize evolving intelligence with human minds.(Will that matter in 1000 years?)

• Finding utility in science equally qualifies whole brain emulation

LeonardoDa Vinci’srobot (1495)

von Kempelen's hoax: The Turk (1769)

GENERAL vs. SUBJECT SPECIFIC

• Relationships: neural prostheses, whole brain emulation, mind uploading

• Central in neuroscience

• General vs. subject specific

• Neural prostheses whole brain emulation (added concerns)

• Resolution

• Scope

General vs. Subject Specific• General function prosthetics:– cochlear implant (some tuning)– retinal prosthetic– “standard length” peg leg

• Subject specific prosthetics:– a dental implant– a personalized wig– a modern prosthetic leg

(JacquesCallot)

(Egypt 3500BC)Osseointegration oftitanium, Brånemark(Sweden, 1952)

Subject Specific Neural Prostheses

• Prosthetic corpus collosum and motor cortex of a musician

• Prosthetic substrate for the neocortical memory representations of your grandchildren

Schlaug (1997)

Eric Kandel(Nobel Laureate 2000)"The Molecular Biology of Memory Storage:A Dialogue Between Genes and Synapses"

WHOLE BRAIN EMULATION

• Relationships: neural prostheses, whole brain emulation, mind uploading

• Central in neuroscience

• General vs. subject specific

• Neural prostheses whole brain emulation (added concerns)

• Resolution

• Scope

Brain Emulation in Health Care• Massive neural prostheses, emulation of the

brain– microtome sectioning, microscopy, reconstruction

– infusion with nanoscale

machines (nanobots)

NeuronStudio (Mt.Sinai Sch.Med.)

(image byTim Fonseca)

Lindquist & Weaver

Preservation of Personal Identity

• Address the subjective experience:

How whole is the prosthetic?

• Personal identity and self-awareness may include a range of:– personal characteristics

e.g. faculties, behavior– sensations

e.g. physical & mental continuity

John Locke(1632-1704)

Can we tell if P.I. is preserved?• Invertebrate and animal brain emulation may

test technologies– cannot provide full feedback about the subjective

experience– can humans?

• Ethical issue:

Is it truly imperative to safe-guard the subjective experience?

Connectivity matrixof 280 C.Elegansneurons (Chen et al.)

Emulation in Health Care

• Memory:– synaptic, organic– distributed in all affected loci– especially throughout the body

• How much is enough? SCOPE

Customized Medical Procedure• Precision in prosthetics:– fine motor control in prosthetic hands– visual resolution in retinal prostheses– reproducing characteristics of behavior– avoiding item/process specific amnesia– retaining clarity,

a strong embodiment of personal identity

(no general amnesia at high resolution)

• How much detail can be perceived?

RESOLUTION

Health Care vs. Exploration

• Exploratory:

Specific personal identity need not be the goal of such brain emulation

• Explorations of intelligence, psychology and humanity

• Another set of ethical issues

In the Following 20 Minutes...

• Relationships: neural prostheses, whole brain emulation, mind uploading

• Central in neuroscience

• General vs. subject specific

• Neural prostheses whole brain emulation (added concerns)

• Resolution

• Scope

RESOLUTION: Expected function

• Implementation of brain functions depends on biophysical mechanismse.g. synapse position, fiber delay, synapse type, receptive field size

• Yet - an implemented function does not depend on individual elements, rather on group activity– self-correcting, redundant, homeostatic– stable functional relationships use detailed

elements of physiological function

RESOLUTION: Hypotheses

• Supposition 1:

Group effects are relevantgroup effects occur within an acceptable range

of response variance caused by the sum of differences between the responses of detailed elements at different occasions

• Supposition 2:

Changes in element detail that maintain the expected group effect within the acceptable range are inconsequential

RESOLUTION: Group effects

• In biology, the theoretical complexity increases as the number of components is increased

• Need to know established group effects– Decode effects during patient analysis– Replicate active components

i.e. capture unknown effects through rigorous and faithful emulation

RESOLUTION: Trade-off

• Trade-off of decode / replicate choice at every level of:–modeling– prosthetics

• E.g. can you replace biological neurons with any other substrate as long as you maintain I/O relationships? What about replicating effects of:– temperature– oxygen– nutrient levels (chemical influences)

Choice and Possibility

• We may consider a set of function responses desirable (healthy)

• Ethical issue:

Selection may lead to differences between prosthetic and original mind of patient– procedure better than no procedure– development of procedure considers

precision of replication and preferences

In the Following 20 Minutes...

• Relationships: neural prostheses, whole brain emulation, mind uploading

• Central in neuroscience

• General vs. subject specific

• Neural prostheses whole brain emulation (added concerns)

• Resolution

• Scope

SCOPE: Perception

• Required & desired scope:– nervous system parts to emulate

(lesser issue)

– quality of interface with environment(greater issue)

• Similar scale of technical hurdles:– emulate brain with/without spinal column– include/exclude peripheral nervous system

• Significant: Quality of interaction

SCOPE: P.I. and continuity

• Is personal identity illusory?

• Continuity: Does it matter if one is dead, then alive again after a delay?

SCOPE: Emergent P.I.

• If personal identity is an emergent phenomenon of the mind, does that mean– destructive upload of mind is O.K.?– discontinuous upload of mind is O.K.?–many copies of simultaneously living

whole brain emulation are O.K.?

• Is there an objective or societal significance to those questions?

• Is it simply a matter of personal choices?

Thank You

"The brain is a world consisting of a number of unexplored continents and great stretches of unknown territory.” - Santiago Ramón y Cajal

http://minduploading.org