Over twenty years ago, I was introduced to neuroscience and its physiology during a frightening discussion with a neonatologist as we viewed sonograms of my son’s brain. Premature babies often suffer cranial hemorrhage, and we were looking at a big one through the soft spot in his skull.
- Image by killermonkeys via Flickr
Shock and fear created fog where most of that memory should be. I do remember hearing that, because there was the greatest damage on the right side, cognition and abstract thinking would likely be affected. Miracles frequently occur in the NICU, though, and we were blessed with one. Over the next few months, a beautiful process was photographed in black and white: young cellular complexes self-repairing by rejuvenation and replacement.
My child’s brain literally grew back, and I saw it happen with technology.
Much more has been discovered in the intervening twenty years, peeling away layers in the mysteries of the brain. These insights stand poised to radically change our world. As we’ve learned more about how the brain works, we are having to re-examine and evaluate what the brain thinks, and what we think about that.
Now it’s possible to scan a brain and assign physical proof to behaviors. Information about brain abnormalities is regularly used for legal defense and psychiatric diagnostics. We’ve learned that brain development isn’t complete until age 24 or 25. These discoveries lead to different expectations and understandings. Can we honestly charge a young teen as an adult with criminal behavior? Can we really blame our high-schoolers for being unable to predict the consequences of impulsive decisions? Could this explain the craziness that transpired in our own young lives?
Neurological research is showing up in marketing analytics. Our decision processes and responses can be tracked when we’re wanting and buying. Perhaps this area of study will reveal why we think we “need” something new and exciting. Receptor data could feasibly be organized into priorities of response. Once this is done, marketers could position more specifically to responses that would yield the highest conversion. This is a long way from subliminal imagery of popcorn and snacks inserted into single frames at the movies!
- Image via Wikipedia
Links to addictive and intoxicating transmitters, like dopamine, have been aligned with romantic feelings. Attachments such as these trigger areas associated with reward in the brain. No wonder we feel giddy during the first stages of a new love! And no wonder for some people there is a letdown as the relationship progresses into a more comfortable, but perhaps less exciting, phase.
Much good research has focused on geriatric and longevity issues. What would happen if we could develop a drug or vaccine to maintain youthful vigor in brain cells? Would elderly stroke victims recover their faculties more rapidly and completely? Would dementia be a thing of the past?
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Neuro-receptor research has isolated synaptic behaviors to the point where certain electrical stimuli can restore mobility, improve weak muscle tone, or reduce spasticity. Imagine the implications for individuals in the community of compromised physical abilities! Research at the University of Minnesota in particular has shown exceptional progress with cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s patients.
Is there a downside to all this discovery? Some think so. If you had asked me twenty-one years ago in that neonatal conference room, my response would have been incredulous and immediate. No question! What parent wouldn’t want to give a chemical assist to cellular repair and circumvent cerebral malfunction in a child? Who would question ensuring more typical physical and cognitive development? Improve the miracle? Say the word!
If we can screen for and identify anomalies and injuries, and administer fixes, to what standard do we aim? The implication is that we might, indeed, eliminate or drastically reduce instances of physical infirmity. While we may easily discern a metric for physical wholeness, what is the totality of cognitive ability? Is there a threshold? If we play around with cognition, would the natural progression of our interference result in, perhaps, a minimum I.Q.? Would it ever be acceptable to impose a maximum I.Q.?
At-risk conditions present additional challenges for the ethical application of our knowledge. Would we wait for the risk to manifest, no matter the probability? What if we could see in a scan the propensity for aberrant behavior down the road? The argument could be made that society might greatly benefit from the elimination of behaviors. No more pedophiles, serial killers, shoplifters, bullies or alcoholics might be good things to strive toward.
Altering attraction nodes to engineer behaviors that society finds more appropriate is a slippery slope. Perhaps it would lead to only the physically beautiful being allowed to attract, and subsequently reproduce.
- Image via Wikipedia
At my son’s tiny bedside all those years ago, I was taken into confidence by Zan, his charge nurse. In a whisper, she conspiratorially warned that, “all the neuros think they’re God, you know.” In her considered opinion, the ability to manipulate brain function via surgery or other interventive treatment created an even more distorted level of omnipotence than in plain old M.D’s.
Eventually, an altercation with the neurosurgeon confirmed Zan’s admonition. It seemed to his father and me that our child was more experimental subject than suffering human. My son’s dad firmly set him straight in a heated discussion that I remember in vivid detail.
In retrospect, I can see why it’s an easy leap. Miracles often appear to result from the treatment doctors order or perform. This tendency might be more easily excused when we consider the consequences of less than an agile facility with the surgeon’s instruments – especially when used on those half the size of a full-term infant. Perhaps this might be the real miracle of all.
With miraculous skill and knowledge comes power. We must maintain the restraint to use it in responsible ways. Ongoing conversations are needed so we can establish boundaries and standards. Technology and research have the potential to release the ultimate secrets to what makes us uniquely human within our collective humanity.
The responsibility we have is to keep us . . . us.
- Cerebral Palsy in Infant- Ways to Prevent It (brainpalsy.com)
- Neurodegenerative Disease and the Coming Epidemic [Highlight HEALTH] (highlighthealth.com)
- Does the brain really choose brands in the same way as Google? (brandstrategy.wordpress.com)
- Daredevils Explained by Science [Research ] (cityfile.com)
- Preclinical Studies Suggest That Living Cell Technologies’ NeurotrophinCell Is Effective In Parkinson’s Disease (medicalnewstoday.com)
- What’s the Problem with Neuroscience? (socialhallucinations.com)
- Mind Reading and Neuromarketing on 60 Minutes (futurelab.net)
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Peter and Betsy Wuebker are location-independent professionals who share what they know about travel, simplicity and integrating work with life. 
Fascinating stuff. I’m going to send a link to a blogger friend who just gave birth to a daughter with a cyst on the back of her head that may contain brain matter.
I’m so glad they discovered that we continue to grow new brain cells throughout life. Before that, living with the idea that we only had so many brain cells and they eventually died was a rather hopeless feeling.
Dot´s last blog post..About Your Business
GREAT QUOTE: “With miraculous skill and knowledge comes power.”
I am absolutely transfixed by the stories of children with epilepsy who have half of their brain removed and how the remaining half will “pick up” the functions of the missing half!!! (However, the same surgery in an adult is disastrous!)
The human body is truly miraculous – I believe the phrase I’m looking for is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” The fact that medical professionals can create their own set of “miracles” is even more awe inspiring.
Thanks for a positive LIFT today!!!
Kathy | Virtual Impax´s last blog post..Social Media Marketing – What you don’t know CAN hurt you
Hi Dot – I’ve long maintained I’ve only got one brain cell left – and it regularly threatens to explode!
It is fascinating to consider the vitality of youthful brain cells and how we might discern the components for use with older people. I hope your friend’s child’s prognosis is promising. Thank you.
Hi Kathy – I had forgotten about the example of the children with seizures – thanks for reminding us! And I love the reference to “fearfully and wonderfully made.” I think it could also mean we should have a healthy respect for its mysteries. Thanks.
Hi Betsy – Wow! What an educational post. The part where you said, “Neurological research is showing up in marketing analytics” makes me wonder how much of this information is used when companies are advertising products that are targeted to the young. If they KNOW at what age we’re the most receptive to buy, I’m guessing they’re more apt to target to that age group. I find that bordering unethical.
Barbara Swafford´s last blog post..SEO – Are We Getting It All Wrong
Hi Barbara – I’ll go you one further. What if companies discover (and they may already have) that certain population segments (like addicts or maybe people with a physical condition like diabetes or multiple sclerosis, any number of things) are more receptive to certain pitches because they trigger a response that is amplified in these people’s brains? (With me? What a convoluted sentence!) So they market specifically to that. Sort of like what cigarette companies did with Joe Camel, but imagine the practice on steroids. Scary!
I am glad you picked up on this part of the post. I believe it could have been a “whole ‘nother” post in and of itself. The ethical implications are staggering. I thought of several additional examples that made my skin crawl – they reminded me of what Mengele was doing at the Nazi camps. Fooling around to this degree can’t be all it’s cracked up to be unless we also provide for abuses of the power that comes with the knowledge and skill. Thanks for recognizing it. I wonder if we’ll see whistleblowing and debate in the future.
Hi Betsy. I’m fascinated by the human body and how nature can repair itself. It is incredible how far medical science has come — I can easily be mesmerized by it. Barbara is right — it is unfortunate when the ego gets in the way and spawns unethical practice.
Davina´s last blog post..Guest Post: Emotions — The Universal Language
Hi Davina – You’re right, it is amazing. The amount of untapped power the body has to heal on its own hasn’t yet been fully documented, either, although we hear incredible stories from time to time. And yes, the ego can be a dangerous thing if left unfettered. Thanks.
Wow! That’s a very insightful post. I usually zone out when I start to see scientific stuff but you kept it interesting and educational. And since my own Little Man was premature, I found that personal part of your story very interesting. Good for you and his father for standing up for what you believed with the doctor. Many people, I think, would keep their mouth shut because the doc is the “professional.”
You have a tag over at my place.
Kool Aid´s last blog post..Monkey’s photos
Absolutely fascinating.
And Maria Montessori was SO RIGHT that the final plane of childhood ends about 24 years of age, as she grouped the “sensitive stages” in roughly 6 year periods, (with the the sub-age of 3 to 6 in a category all its own. ) Unfortunately she never lived to see her theory proven, as she died in old age while researching that 18-to-24 year old phase. She’s probably up in heaven giving a big hurrah at these scientific brain findings.
God bless you and your son, what a miracle.
Oh, and more dopamine, please!
Jannie Funster´s last blog post..Doing It
LOL . . . I’ll buy a round of dopamine for the house.
Pete´s last blog post..MYSTIC ROSE WEDDING DECAL
Hi Betsy – That is an awesome story. And it’s truly amazing that your son’s brain could repair itself. The more I hear these stories, the more I see the potential in what Robin has to say abut healing ourselves and living forever.
Like you, I worry that it could be taken to far though. It would be nice to rid the world of terrible crime – but it would just take another nut, like Hitler, who wanted to experiment on live brains and clone himself – then where we would be.
I hope that we will find a way to make these improvements, without medical intervention. But I wonder if that could only happen, if the good we put into the world as a whole, is greater than the bad. I only wish we knew how to go about making that happen.
Cath Lawson´s last blog post..Dead Hamsters & Other Customers Service Issues
My youngest child has a hole in her brain in long term memory – she can’t get certain memories out that are stored. There is no repair yet, or way to grow the receptors in place, but if she learns like a stroke victim she can get the information out through her artistic part of the brain.
I hardest part of my working life has been working with new parents with hard birth stories and parents who know there are huge abnormalities with their unborn child…making ethical decisions is a tough go for doctors and parents and whole groups of people.
One church in town dumped so much garbage in our yard during one decision making cycle, that the garbage truck came everyday to pick up and my children were shipped out to my Mother’s house. They were responding to an untrue rumor/newspaper story and making death threats and they knew nothing of what they were talking about or what I was involved with….and it was all taking place in Iowa not anywhere that I lived.
I wish I could think that advertisers would turn up their ethical vision – but since Phillip Morris bought Kraft and is doing the same kind of advertising as they did for cigarettes. I don’t find myself very hopeful or optimistic.
Very well done post and information sharing…I love studying this stuff. Thank you
Patricia´s last blog post..I Needs
Hi Kool Aid – Welcome to PassingThru! And thank you for the tag. I bet we could trade premie stories back and forth for quite some time! Yes, I’ve never been the sort to accept what the doctors say as gospel, but rather, have tried to summon my gut as well when evaluating. It would be interesting to put together a course in empathy for some of them, wouldn’t it? Thank you and hope to see more of you.
Hi Jannie – I’m not well-versed in Montessori’s teachings, so I found your mention a fascinating corollary to this post. Thank you. I do remember hearing in Early Childhood learning circles from those days, that one could count on an even/odd six month trajectory with children. You’d get six months of great, and then six months of “adjusting” to new behaviors. It seemed to bear out with my children, although I wouldn’t discount a self-fulfilling prophecy, either! Thank you.
Hi Honey – LOL – we can always find you serving up whatever and whoever’s in the house.
Hi Cath – This experience with my son was a defining moment in my life in so many ways. On one level – the most disassociative one – it was fascinating to learn and observe. Premature babies act and respond very differently than full-term babies. Their needs and complications are escalated to high alerts and their responses are so radical – they literally shut down from stress, and can fade away without drastic intervention.
The NICU was like walking into the future with all the technology, lights, buzzers, alarms. (Nowadays, it’s a much quieter, soothing environment). At the same time, dealing with my son and his tiny neighbors was an opportunity to look inside the womb for almost 3 months. When he started looking and acting more like a “real” baby, I was saddened in a way. It was as if we were moving away from the miraculous. But then I found out there were other miracles to come.
I think what you say about only putting the good in, rather than the bad, has a mythical connotation. Weren’t Adam and Eve originally perfect and ageless? Wasn’t physical death only manifested after temptation? Thanks and again, so good to have you back and feeling better.
Hi Patricia – Yes, I remember you mentioning your daughter’s unique set of attributes. It is so challenging, isn’t it? Since this was my first parenting experience, I had to throw the books away. I can remember wishing fervently – “all I want is a C student, good in sports. Do people with kids like that know how lucky they are?”
We also were told compensatory effects would kick in. And the compensations were amazing in their scope. There was very little specific prognostication, but I do remember being told he might never walk or write his name. Pfffttt! He made all-conference in adapted athletics and has an Associates Degree in broadcasting. And yes, he can write his own name. So, ultimately, God answered me. I got my C student, good in sports.
I think it’s the fluidity of justification in some ethical circles that bothers me the most. And the lack of empathy. There is no substitute for experience, yet we each process our own differently and reach individual conclusions.
And, in another conversation I saw recently, the participants seemed to feel that we are savvy and sophisticated enough to adapt and override shady ethics in marketing and advertising. I’m not sure about that. Collectively, we can’t seem to shake off the perception that current times are the equivalent of the Great Depression when they most certainly don’t even come close. How are we going to resist youth-enizing face cream? (Pun intended).
Thanks to all of you for furthering the topic. Especially, Pete, who is now serving dopamine cocktails.
I see what you mean Betsy. I guess it may be impossible for only good to exist on this earth.
I’m not sure that I believe in Adam and Eve though. I believe in God but I don’t really believe that all that we read in the bible is true. For all we know, so crazy person on drugs could have written all that.
We could do the same now – we could write a totally invented story and people a couple of thousands of years down the line could believe it was true.
Hi Cath – Yes, I suppose we could. But it would be hard to zero in on and then re-create the oomph from multiple authors that give myths their universality, wouldn’t it? It’s like every tradition has its Giant Flood story with or without Noah, and the discovery of the Ark on top of that mountain was kind of neat. Oh, well. I don’t need to know whether Adam and Eve is “true.”
I guess – because there’s more chance of it being true – if there was multiple authors, as you say. It would just be really nice to know how it really was. I love visiting historical places but it would be so much more awesome to visit the real thing.
I’ve always had an uncomfortable feeling about the Adam and Eve story though – I guess it’s because Eve got the blame. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall.
CatherineL´s last blog post..Google PageRank Is Meaningless But We Still Bloody Well Need It
Hi Cath – Yes, the story can feel very misogynistic, can’t it. Maybe Eve just preferred bad boys, eh?