Large Mammal Brain Preservation Prize Won Using a Method of Vitrifixation

A few years ago, the Brain Preservation Foundation awarded the small mammal brain preservation prize to a team working with a vitrifixation method: chemical fixation combined with low temperature storage. It produces excellent preservation of the fine molecular structure of the brain, and of particular interest are those areas in which the data of the mind is thought to be encoded. It is not surprising to see the same approach working for a larger brain. While this isn't a completely straightforward step, as working with larger tissue sections is always harder in many ways than working with smaller tissue sections, it was expected. The Brain Preservation Foundation is representative of a faction of our broader community who are (a) in favor of preserving brains, and thus individuals, from death and oblivion, (b) harshly critical of the technologies and methods of the present cryonics providers, and (c) inclusive of a fair number of pattern identity theorists. The latter viewpoint means that the self is identified with the pattern of information, not the location or matter used to store that pattern. So these are people comfortable with the idea of the data of the mind being read from a stored brain, used to run an emulation of consciousness in software, and the stored brain then discarded. In their view, the resulting artificial intelligence is still the self, rather than a copy. They are alive, not dead. For those of us who adhere to the alternative viewpoint, ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Healthy Life Extension Community Source Type: blogs