Essay/Term paper: Brain transplant

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Medicine

Brain Transplant


Medical technology has seemed to advance enough so that doctors are able to
perform brain transplants. So far this procedure has only been successfully
performed on animals, and now doctors hope to perform this procedure on humans.
I believe brain transplants should not be performed at all, and especially not
on humans because of the numerous problems and side effects that could arise.

Even though brain transplants can be successfully performed on animals,
this does not mean that it will be successful with humans. The human brain is
much more complex than the brain of animals, so there will be many more
complications during surgery. For example, the healthy brain that was removed
could have been damaged in some way without the doctors knowing it. It would
also be very difficult to attach a person's brain in a different body because of
the millions of neurons that send and receive messages to and from all over the
body. It would be almost impossible to reconnect every single neuron, and
without them a person could not function normally. Many psychological effects
are also possible because the human brain is so complex. Our brain makes us who
we are, and with a different brain we would no longer be unique. A person with
a different brain would seem to be a total stranger and in many ways they would
be. Hopefully these dangerous side effects will convince doctors not to perform
this procedure on humans.

The advancement of technology can be very beneficial to everyone, but I
do not believe that this medical technology of brain transplants will help
anyone. We were all born with one brain and through childhood to adolescence
our mind developed into who we are. No one should steal our identity from us,
even if we are seriously injured, and change it to a completely new one. Also
for the people who have died with healthy brains, that was their identity and it
should not be given to anyone else.

Another problem with brain transplants is how can doctors choose what
are "healthy" or "normal" brains. An elderly person who has died would have an
aged brain that would not be as efficient as a younger person's brain. Then
would doctors have to find healthy brains of the same age as the person who
needs it? This could also bring up other factors such as intelligence, gender,
or physical problems that a person might have had before death. Also another
problem might be with the period of time a brain can be kept "alive" after death
and how it can be kept "alive" without damage. Overall, my feelings about this
surgery are that it should not be done on humans until doctors have overcome all
the problems and obstacles that stand in their way of making brain transplants
with humans successful.