Microchips in the Human Brain By: Kami Kolnitys

Brain microchips are not far on the horizon Already is a patent for a microchip that has been implanted in animals and humans teeth that can emit radio signals to track location Obamacare thinking about using microchips in the arm so that doctors will have access to a patient’s medical history diagnosed from previous doctors Monkeys have been able to control the behavior of another monkey by wiring electrodes to the brain of one monkey and electrodes to the spine of another monkey www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_implants03.htm‎

Potential Uses for Microchip Implants in the Brain Save memory (Alzheimer's and Parkinson’s disease) Restore memory (epilepsy) Help paralyzed people move (Quadriplegics)

Save memory …Help with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease, damage from strokes Theodore Berger, a biomedical engineer and neuroscientist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles believes microchips may allow people with brain abnormalities to form normal long term memories. Microchips will mimic the signals the hippocampus would normally send out. (relies on mathematical equation) This worked when tested in rats. The rats were drugged so they wouldn’t remember which lever would produce the treat, and they could remember again after attached electrodes carried signal to external chip. http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513681/memory-implants/

Restore Memory …help with epilepsy Researchers at Stanford believe this is possible in the next two years Brain implants are already used to treat epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, but they are too large to be practical. Soon microchip implants may be placed in areas where cells have been damaged. The microchips will send out the signals to other parts of the brain that the normal cells would. Drugs can induce greater activity in the surrounding cells as well. http://www.medicaldaily.com/brain-implant-microchip-could-restore-memory-245670

Help Quadriplegics move http://www.technologyreview.com/news/427939/brain-chip-helps-quadriplegics-move-robotic-arms-with-their-thoughts/

Microchips with hair-like electrodes projected into the motor cortex record the impulses of neurons created by the thought to move The microchips send a signal to the robot, moving the robot Currently requires chip to be attached with wires to outer machine Scientists working on making microchip wireless No longer limited to controlling computer cursor Results discovered by John Donoghue, a neuroscientist at Brown University

Arguments against using microchips in the brain Humans are tampering with human nature /“Playing God” May alter sense of identity and conception of humans/community Human’s autonomy and privacy may be violated Totalitarian control Tracking https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Bioe/BioeMcGe.htm

Microchips may increase the gap between people sociologically, economically, and ethnically May create harmful and irreversible mutations Microchips found to cause cancer in mice

Biggest Problem with Microchip Implants in the Brain Potential for abuse Autonomy and privacy may be violated Totalitarian control Tracking Already are movies that show dystopian societies because of governmental control through chips. Divergent: One group of society tries to take control over everyone else by implanting chips in the fighters of society and programming them to all fight subconsciously through sending signals through a computer. Hunger Games: government oppresses everyone by showing total control, even injecting trackers into the people

Microchip Implants should be allowed with reservations Only to help disabled people Microchips can help people obtain a higher standard of living Not for recreational purposes Videogames Phones and computers in the brain through microchips The more common microchips are the easier it will be to abuse Obamacare microchips may be voluntary and help communicate information between doctors, but if everyone has them, they could easily be used to track.

Allowing microchips only to help the disabled or injured allows some of the best benefits of microchips to be taken advantage of while avoiding the widespread abuse and violation of autonomy that may occur if everyone had them.