Shawn Mikula on Brain Preservation Protocols and Extensions

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Recently published article in Nature Methods on a new protocol for preserving mouse brains that allows the neurons to be traced across the entire brain, something that wasn't possible before. This is exciting because in as little as 3 years, the method could be extended to larger mammals (like humans), and pave the way for better neuroscience or even brain uploads. From the abstract:

Here we describe a preparation, BROPA (brain-wide reduced-osmium staining with pyrogallol-mediated amplification), that results in the preservation and staining of ultrastructural details throughout the brain at a resolution necessary for tracing neuronal processes and identifying synaptic contacts between them. Using serial block-face electron microscopy (SBEM), we tested human annotator ability to follow neural ‘wires’ reliably and over long distances as well as the ability to detect synaptic contacts. Our results suggest that the BROPA method can produce a preparation suitable for the reconstruction of neural circuits spanning an entire mouse brain

http://blog.brainpreservation.org/2015/04/27/shawn-mikula-on-brain-preservation-protocols/

Here we describe a preparation, BROPA (brain-wide reduced-osmium staining with pyrogallol-mediated amplification), that results in the preservation and staining of ultrastructural details throughout the brain at a resolution necessary for tracing neuronal processes and identifying synaptic contacts between them. Using serial block-face electron microscopy (SBEM), we tested human annotator ability to follow neural ‘wires’ reliably and over long distances as well as the ability to detect synaptic contacts. Our results suggest that the BROPA method can produce a preparation suitable for the reconstruction of neural circuits spanning an entire mouse brain

http://blog.brainpreservation.org/2015/04/27/shawn-mikula-on-brain-preservation-protocols/

So, one reason I pointed you at orthonormal's sequence is that if you read all those posts they seem likely to trigger different intuitions for you.

I would also ask if you think that Aristotle - had he only been smarter - could have figured out his "unique type of physico-chemical causal (space-time) structure" from pure introspection. A negative answer would not automatically prove functionalism. We know of other limits on knowledge. But it does show that the thought experiment in which you are currently a simulation is at least as 'conceivable' as the thought experiment of a zombie without consciousness and perhaps even your scenarios. Furthermore, the mathematical examples of limits on self-knowledge actually point towards structure being independent of 'substrates'. That's how computer science started in the first place.

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Shawn Mikula on Brain Preservation Protocols and Extensions

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Shawn Mikula on Brain Preservation Protocols and Extensions

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