Human Connectome Project, Science, March 2012
In a massive story in the New York Times this Sunday, journalist Amy Harmon documented the journey of a dying 23-year-old woman who decided to freeze her brain.
The woman, Kim Suozzi, had terminal brain cancer, and wanted to preserve her brain with the hope that it could one day be revived.
Suozzi isn’t alone, either. More than 100 people have undergone cryonics (freezing their body for reviving later) or neuropreservation (freezing of just the head and brain) since the first case in the 1960s, according to the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, which performs both procedures.
Alcor requires patients to sign over to them their life insurance policies of $80,000 for neuropreservation and $200,000 for cryonics, according to their website.
Medical professionals and researchers have gotten quite good at freezing and reviving human parts — everything from organs for transplantation to embryos and eggs for reproduction. But the human brain is a whole other story.
Rebecca Harrington 