So, I still don't know if you are irreversibly dead if your brain stops all activity.
I.e. is the state of your brain preserved just by the connections of the neurons? Or is the "RAM" also critical?
I.e. is the state of your brain preserved just by the connections of the neurons? Or is the "RAM" also critical?
Now I want to read a sci-fi book with this sentence in it.
A key concept in Netflix's cyberpunk series Altered Carbon is the 'stack', an advanced hard drive installed on the brainstem on which a person can save a copy of their consciousness. The main effect of stack technology is a form of immortality, because a stack can be installed into another body if the original body dies. But there’s another a major implication only hinted at during the first season of Altered Carbon: If you could choose your own body, would you go with the one you were born with? That's an especially important question for gender fluid or transgender people. The topic was only hinted at in the first season, but Altered Carbon creator Laeta Kalogridis told The Wrap it's something she would like to explore in greater detail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altered_Carbon_(TV_series)#The...
This would be the perfect research testbed for human psychology and intelligence. Do something, compare with exact but unmodified state.
wow, this is so intriguing. i like this analogy even if i don't know how accurate it is.
we indeed have things that we forget (running out of space?) and things that take time to remember (disk latency).
Like how deleting files doesn't properly wipe out the bits and with the right tools you can still recover deleted info.
If the brain continues its metabolism without oxygen it induces neuronal cell death.
The mechanism is called anoxic depolarization. Sodium–potassium pumps in the cell walls need to work to maintain K+ and Na+ ion gradient. When the pump runs out of energy it causes glutamate and aspartate concentrations inside the cell grow. When they grow past some critical threshold, it starts programmed cell death.
Cooling he body and brain can prevent this when the brain metabolism slows down to match the lower oxygen levels.
There are cases of people without short term memory. That to me qualifies as RAM, guess its not critical to survival.
The connections between the neurons is the architecture. The neurons themselves have state. If that state is wiped across the brain, I'd be surprised if the body connected to it could even still keep itself alive.
To the actual question though, neurons die/fail very quickly at their normal metabolic rate without an oxygen supply. You are certainly dead once that happens.
These procedures are all about providing some oxygen and dropping the metabolic rate to keep the neurons alive longer than they would unassisted.
Very important difference.