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A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

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Re: A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

#41

Post by cmckn »

fundamental wrote: post #25
renewiltord wrote: post #12

This is absolutely crazy cool. Perhaps modern surgical interventions will only progress one crazy risk taker at a time. Reminds me of Werner Forssman and catheterization! An example where overly cautious ethics killed so many people before a brave self-experimenter saved so many lives.

Certainly a unique experiment, however behind the scenes things were let down by poor experimental procedures, minimal experiment designs, outrageously inaccurate data analysis, and poor recording equipment.

Yup, it's unfortunate that he took this kind of risk without having his t's crossed and i's dotted. The experiment could have been much more informative.

Re: A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

#42

Post by fundamental »

cmckn wrote: post #41
fundamental wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certainly a unique experiment, however behind the scenes things were let down by poor experimental procedures, minimal experiment designs, outrageously inaccurate data analysis, and poor recording equipment.

Yup, it's unfortunate that he took this kind of risk without having his t's crossed and i's dotted. The experiment could have been much more informative.

My personal big disappointment was seeing objectively false claims being made at the society for neuroscience conference. It made it clear to me that the work was not being done in good faith.

Re: A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

#43

Post by throwanem »

xwdv wrote: post #34
LinuxBender wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does appear that is one of the molecules that will help stimulate production [1] but to what degree I can not tell. This might make for some fun reading on PubMed. I take half of those things they list but have no way to measure it. I would avoid commenting on the people down-voting you, that typically just makes it worse. [1] - https://www.neomed-clinic.com/the-best-nerve-growth-factor-s...

Has Lion’s Mane made demonstrable improvements in your intelligence???

Has it in yours?

Re: A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

#44

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

ushakov wrote: post #2

check his Wikipedia edit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotrophic_electrode > In Neural Signals' implantations of six people, only one had a short lived episode of focal motor seizures and brain swelling leading to temporary weakness on the contralateral side of the body. > That person was me, Phil Kennedy. And here I am writing this addition to the Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neurotrophic_elec...

(the IP has more edits like that to that article)

Re: A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

#45

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

tux3 wrote: post #9
ushakov wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

also he has some personal comment in the last section somebody gotta explain him Wikipedia ain't a personal blog

Ironically, had he published on his personal blog under his name and credentials, it could have been accepted as a reliable source. (Though a Wired article is even better)

Wikipedia insists on secondary sources. Primary sources are not considered acceptable IIRC.

Re: A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

#46

Post by prometheus76 »

gzer0 wrote: post #13

> His early fears of having damaged Kennedy for life turned out to be unfounded; the language loss that left his patient briefly locked in was just a symptom of postoperative brain swelling. While I am glad that there was minimal harm done here, I am perplexed as to why a Neurosurgeon would risk their decades of training and career for such a high-risk low reward surgery. This could have been a terrible ending. We sh…

"Wary" means "cautious", as in "beware". "Weary" means "tired".

Re: A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

#47

Post by fleetwoodsnack »

3np wrote: post #39
bawolff wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think its like drugs in sports - in principle you are only risking yourself, but if it becomes normalized you will have to do it no matter how you feel about it or risk getting left behind.

Science is (supposed to be) a collaborative effort, not a zero-sum competitive game like sports. Of course people might get competitive about their careers and feel pressured to stay on top. But the discovery of one researcher should not be to the detriment of others.

Not quite. You’re right that scientific knowledge and career prestige are not zero-sum competitive games, but the competition for scientific funding often is. Anyone who’s sat down to write a grant proposal knows what a struggle it can be to get support for even the most promising research.

If (big if, but it is the topic of the discussion at hand) self-experimentation is increasingly normalized, and through normalization attracts funding, one can imagine the competition for said funds incentivizing researchers and labs to take extreme measures to garner attention and acquire support.

Money, the same motivation that pushes athletes to extremes, is not something scientists are immune to, even if the ultimate utility of the money serves different purposes.

Re: A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

#48

Post by tux3 »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #45
tux3 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically, had he published on his personal blog under his name and credentials, it could have been accepted as a reliable source. (Though a Wired article is even better)

Wikipedia insists on secondary sources. Primary sources are not considered acceptable IIRC.

Self-published sources are generally not considered reliable: i.e. anyone can't just write a web page or a book and start quoting themselves on Wikipedia. That's clearly objectionable!

Recognized domain experts who are routinely published in respectable journals is one of the main exceptions.

Some relevant policy: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Self...

Re: A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

#49

Post by DantesKite »

pmoriarty wrote: post #28
gzer0 wrote: post #13

> His early fears of having damaged Kennedy for life turned out to be unfounded; the language loss that left his patient briefly locked in was just a symptom of postoperative brain swelling. While I am glad that there was minimal harm done here, I am perplexed as to why a Neurosurgeon would risk their decades of training and career for such a high-risk low reward surgery. This could have been a terrible ending. We sh…

Self-experimentation used to be a lot more common in medicine. There's an interesting history of it in a book called Who Goes First? https://www.amazon.com/Who-Goes-First-Lawrence-Altman/dp/052...

Thanks for the book recommendation. That one looks very interesting.

Re: A neurologist who hacked his brain and almost lost his mind (2016)

#50

Post by xwdv »

throwanem wrote: post #43
xwdv wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has Lion’s Mane made demonstrable improvements in your intelligence???

Has it in yours?

Yes I score several points higher consistently in IQ tests, and I have very wild and vivid dreams.
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