X-Message-Number: 24390 Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 10:48:35 -0700 Subject: Re: IS THEIR LIFE AFTER MENTAL DEATH? From: Kennita Watson <> On Wednesday, Jul 14, 2004, at 02:00 US/Pacific, CryoNet wrote: > From: Randolfe Wicker <> > ... > My mother has Alzheimer's and is "in perfect health' except for this > fact....She doesn't know me, doesn't know her name, has to be > diapered, fed manually, etc. Is she really alive???? I don't think > so. > > So, should one preserve a body with a dead mind through cryonics? > Alzheimer's involves "amyloid plaques". To me that sounds like gum in an engine. Does that kill the neurons or just render them incommunicado? If the latter, it seems that if we learn to dissolve the plaques we could get the person back. Just like if we learn to dissolve the scars that destroyed myelin leaves in my brain, axons can grow back through the area now blocked by the scars and I can regain some of my lost function. Also, even if they die, is there any information left about where they were before they died? Maybe some of the connections could be recreated/emulated and reactivated. Hopefully, Kennita Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=24390