Will the Brainlift Be the New 'Lunchtime Power Peel'?

Throughout history, youth and beauty have been cultural obsessions.  Cleopatra reportedly followed strict beauty regimens of milk and honey baths and moisturized her skin religiously with aloe vera and if you know history – her exquisite beauty seduced Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. In the mid 20th century, women spent hours in the beauty salon sitting under a hair dryer that resembled an egg - they still exist actually. They tried out the latest invention to create that perfect curl – do you remember ‘perms?’ They slathered their faces with the latest skin cream that promised ‘youth’.

Today, we don’t have to spend as much time attaining beauty. In less than an hour, women can get smoother skin, erase fine lines and age spots and look more youthful. Her aesthetics have improved and she’s inarguably knocked off at least five years.

But, while she may have knocked off years aesthetically - what about neurologically? As we age, our brain gets smaller and our neural circuits don’t function as efficiently as they once did. Can we reverse our aging brain? Can we get bionic memory?  Can we trade-in our brain for an ‘upgraded version?’  Is there a ‘brain lift’?

Dr. Katrina Firlik, prominent neurosurgeon and author of Another Day in the Frontal Lobe, has dedicated an entire chapter in her book to Brainlifts – what she deems as the future of neurosurgery. Welcome to the 21st century – the Neurocentric Generation where cognitive tune-ups are possible. She gives this potential scenario - a scenario that may be arriving sooner than we expect.

Firlik gives an example of a neurosurgeon who operates a private practice and offers three different types of cognitive enhancements. She foresees his clients as high-achievers (male and female) and mothers who want to return to the workforce but feel their brains are ‘mush’ after listening to the mind numbing screeching voices of Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go for a few years. They want legerity and they’re willing to pay for it.

Seeking more ‘brain power’ is not a novel trend.  How many of us guzzle coffee in the morning when our kids are up at 5am, or at night to stay up while burning the midnight oil? Caffeine in coffee (and tea) acts as a cognitive stimulant and also helps reduce levels of beta amyloid protein in the brain – accumulations of this protein underlie Alzheimer’s disease. “August 7th, 2007 Neurology” Neuroenhancers such as Adderall and Ritalin (not approved by the FDA for this use) are taken by highly-functioning, overly-committed, ambitious college students needing to pull all nighters before their big exams or resident doctors working around the clock where mental alertness is a required precision and hamartia can hinder their medical career. In director Neil Burger’s Limitless, Eddie Morra, is a writer who pops a pill which will allow him to utilize 100 percent of his mind – making him more focused and razor-sharp confident.

But, this doctor won’t be offering a pill, but rather, three alternatives for a higher functioning brain.

1)      Memory-training computer based system (we've already seen this come to fruition with computer brain enhancement programs like Lumosity) It’s non-invasive and results vary anywhere from a week to four months depending upon how many hours are spent on the lessons.

2)      TMS – or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation – Non-Invasive – It’s been around since 1985 and has been used to treat depression and other brain disorders by deactivating or activating specific regions of the neocortex – the brain’s outer layer through the transmission of multiple magnetic pulses through a person’s skull – using a TMS device – a plastic-enclosed coil of wire which is held near the skull (no physical contact) and reaches less than 5 cm into the brain.

These magnetic pulses spark electric currents which depolarize or hyperpolarize neuronal firings – a high frequency stimulates brain activity while lower frequency decreases brain activity.  So, if you’re overactive in one area of the brain, TMS can be used to deactivate it. (Brain Stimulant, February 8, 2008)

In the future, Dr. Firlik hypothesizes that doctors will be able to use this technology to reach the hippocampus for memory enhancement.  She predicts that it will be so commonplace that spa treatments will be offered as an extra amenity during the process of upgrading our minds. 

3)      The Brain Lift – Invasive

Dr. Firlik predicts that in the future it's possible that we will be able to have this type of surgery on a Friday and be back to work by Monday with a 'newly minted brain.' In her scenario, the doctor maps out the client’s memory network based on an fMRI.  The client is put under anesthesia and an “incision is made in the scalp overlying each major node in the memory network. A small hole is created in the skull and a neat little metal plug, similar to a watch battery, that contains a stimulator-electrode and battery is inserted. The stimulation is constant and low grade – superior to TMS – which delivers higher-intensity stimulation, but only intermittently.  Ideally, the batteries can be recharged – every two or three years – non-invasively – right through the scalp without surgery.

Dr. Firlik says, “the riddle of the savant mind hasn’t been figured out in enough detail. But, I have no doubt that it will with all the research into how the mind works, or doesn’t work.’

Is there an ethical implication of the volition for cognitive enhancement? 

Some skeptics say that it will widen the socioeconomic gaps in society.  Much like healthcare where the privileged can get the best healthcare if their insurance doesn't cover the costs, the wealthy will have the more ‘improved’ minds while the poor stay ‘dunces’.

Will the eccentric success-obsessed parents implant a chip in their child before pre-school admissions? Will it become a sweet sixteen present much like the yuppie mothers bestow new breasts or Botox for their daughter’s birthday?  On the flip side, maybe someone who is at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder – will invest in this treatment – and become 'limitless’.

According to Firlik, she believes that eventually brainlifts will gain broader acceptance much like plastic surgery. Prices will eventually go down so that more people will have the accessibility to a savant mind.

Francis Fukuyama, author of Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution, says,  “The original purpose of medicine is to heal the sick, not turn healthy people into gods.” “New York Times, Brain Enhancement Is Wrong, by Benedict Carey, March 9, 2008”

Leon Kass, scientist, educator, and bioethicist, in 2003, wrote a report on enhancement to the President’s Council on Bioethics. "We must live, or try to live, as true men and women, accepting our finite limits, cultivating our given gifts, and performing in ways that are humanly excellent. To do otherwise is to achieve our most desired results at the ultimate cost: getting what we seek or think we seek by no longer being ourselves. That is, we cheat ourselves out of ownership of our own success and damage our sense of self.” “Time Health, Popping Pills: The Case for Cognitive Enhancement By Maia Szalavitz, Tuesday January 6, 2009”

Dr. Firlik ponders: “What if a newly minted savant uses his cognitive superiority for crime, or terrorism? What if one savant can do the work of a dozen normal people, leading to higher unemployment?”

Dr. Firlik is convinced that once the technology exists, it will be hard to stop. “The neurosurgeon in her wonders how this implant would affect the individual brain and the anthropologist in her wonders how it might change the world.”