Brain Transplant Essay, Research Paper

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.