X-Message-Number: 23290
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:04:11 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: cat brains

I've been having an interesting but inconclusive discussion
with a friend regarding the remarkable experiment by Isamu
Suda in the 1960s. Suda perfused isolated cat brains with a
cryoprotectant, stored the brains at a low temperature, and
then rewarmed them after varying intervals. He reperfused
them with cat blood and detected electrical activity which
looked similar to EEGs which were taken before the cats were
initially sacrificed. The electrical activity did not last
very long, but was indisputably measured, providing probably
the best-ever proof that neurons can resume functioning
spontaneously, in a seemingly organized way, after a period
of cryopreservation. An initial account of the experiment
was published in October 1966 in Nature, which also published
a follow-up.

The question is this:

If you were trying to sell cryonics to a *wide range* of
potential signups, would you include an account of Suda's
experiment with cat brains? On one hand, it provides rare and
valuable experimental evidence to convince scientists; but on
the other hand, it could disturb hardcore cat lovers and
animal rights activists.

The follow-up question is:

If you would include a description of the experiment, how
graphic and detailed should it be? On one hand, if you don't
include much detail, some people will find it hard to
believe; but if you describe it graphically, other people
might find the whole thing ghoulish.

Please feel free to email me directly if you have an opinion
on this.

--Charles Platt

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