The question is this – what is pain? Some of us identify with pain, whether physically, mentally or emotionally, while others are seemingly impervious to this so human feeling. What about cyborgs – are they able to feel pain? Well, MIT researchers have managed to figure out how to stimulate target nerves that results in less collateral pain for part-human, part-machine cyborgs. This is made possible by tweaking the electrical balance of fluids that surround a nerve, where they can still trigger a nerve using far less electrical current. Not only that, they also managed to discover the fact that less current is require to stop electrical impulses traveling along nerves, where this step could be crucial in shutting down the haywire electrical storm patterns of epilepsy or ease chronic pain.
It is hoped that such technological advancements will be the base and pave the future many other neuroprosthetic devices down the road. Having said that, does this mean the cyborg Data from the Star Trek: The Next Generation series feels pain? He does not seem to from my memory, but I guess the future does wield very different paths for each of us.
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