Does Deep Brain Stimulation Pose?

In his 1971 paper “Personal Identity”, Derek Parfit posits that it is possible and indeed desirable to free important questions from presuppositions about personal identity without losing all that matters. In working out how to do so, Parfit comes to the conclusion that “the question about identity has no importance” (Parfit, 1971, p. 4.2:3). In this essay, I will attempt to show that Parfit’s thesis is a valid one, with positive implications for human behaviour. The first section of the essay will examine the thesis in further detail and the second will assess how Parfit’s claims fare in the face of criticism.

In this paper, I will argue that the Memory Theory of Personal Identity is the closest to the truth. I will do so by showing that the opposing theories – Body and Soul Theories – have evident flaws and that the

According to Salmon, 1985 (Salmon 1985, p171), development and change are not limited to childhood but continue throughout our lives. It is however argued that personal identities are similar to social identities, and include group or collective identities.

In philosophy, the issue of personal identity concerns the conditions under which a person at one time is the same person at another time. An analysis of personal identity

Humans are bound to make mistakes during these critical decisions that affect both relationships and them as individuals; as a result people are regretful about their identity. Sooner or later people arrive at a point in life where they want to reassess themselves, indicating the theme of Rethinking Identity that is associated with search for an identity, which

Presently, deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery predominates the field as the premier surgical intervention for the treatment of advanced PD. It is most ideal for those PD patients whose disease has insufficient or sporadic responses to medication. This technique involves the insertion of permanent electrodes into a specifically targeted region of the brain and continuous administration of high frequency of electrical stimulation. Currently, no evidence exists that suggests a specific target for DBS surgery may be more beneficial; there was no marked difference in motor improvement between patients who underwent GPi-directed DBS

This paper was a ground-breaking entry into the combined usage of deep brain stimulation (DBS) and optogenetics. Studies involving DBS are usually met with potential confounders as to the route of therapeutic intervention. The authors mentioned three, the first being the difficulty in determining specific circuits responsible due to the complexity of nervous tissue. Another being that DBS makes use of high frequency stimulation (HFS) which itself produces a myriad of changes in activity that can be hard to pin down in target cells. The final being that DBS creates artefacts through electrical stimulation that clouds target cell responses in neural circuits1. Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is characterized by a loss of dopamine in the striatum that results in both motor and affective pathologies. Specifically modulated are the direct and indirect pathways in the basal ganglia. The indirect pathway is studied in this paper and comprises the global pallidus interna and its afferent synapses on the subthalamic nucleus.2 To address this aspect of PD and the aforementioned DBS issues the authors decided to make use of channel rhodopsins, halorhodopsins, optrodes and optical stimulation. To induce the PD symptoms, rodents were injected with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) to induce hemi parkinsonian symptoms on the contralateral side and in vivo delivery of ChR2 and NpHR was done via lentiviruses.

Personal identity theory is a theory that questions our existence philosophically: it asks who we are and how do we know? In the essay “Will Tommy Vladek Survive?” John Perry described a controversial topic on identity by analyzing an essay called The Meeting by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Konibluth. In the essay there were two boys -Tommy Vladek a destructive boy, who was mentally challenged but healthy-bodied and Sam a normal boy, who had an accident that damaged his body but left his brain healthy. Tommy’s family was facing difficulties because of the special care needed for him. A Dr. Nicholson gave Tommy’s parents the choice of a new brain that will make “upgrade” Tommy and they had

Okun (2012) utilized a systematic review of four samples to explore deep brain stimulation effects on advanced Parkinson’s patients’ quality of life, severity of motor symptoms, and the number of hours per day spent in the “on” state without dyskinesia (Appendix D). Pertinent findings from the critical appraisal of this article included: validity of the reviews utilized in the study, sample size, measurement of variables, findings, and strengths and weaknesses.

There are various kinds of identity (individualized or shared) that people are expected to possess. (Hollinger, 2004) namely; personal identity which is known as a

Secondly, deep brain stimulation procedures are prone to surgical complications, and these complications may deteriorate patients’ suffering. Implantation of pulse generators, electrodes and connection cables is a common source of surgical complications. These complications include infection, erosion and electrode malfunction. Blomstedt and Hariz (2005) analyzed 139 cases of deep brain stimulation procedures on 119 patients from 1993 to 2002. They found that 15% of the patients underwent one or more hardware-related complications, and that the complications mostly occurred within the first four years after deep brain stimulation treatments. This fairly high percentage places emphasis on the sine qua non of experienced surgical teams and post-surgical

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical procedure introduced in 1987. This procedure uses the implantation of a medical device called neurostimulator. A neurostimulator sends electrical impulses, through implanted electrodes, to specific targets in the brain for the treatment of movement and neuropsychiatric (branch of medicine that deals with mental disorders) disorders. DBS in select brain regions has provided therapeutic benefits for disorders such as Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, chronic pain, major depression and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). DBS and its underlying principles and mechanisms are still not clear. DBS directly changes brain activity in a controlled manner, its effects are reversible unlike other techniques, and it is one of only a few neurosurgical methods that allow blinded studies. Deep Brain Stimulation is approved by FDA in USA.

The question on personal identity has been a philosophical debate for a long time. Philosophers over time have tried to argue what being a person that one is, from one day to the necessarily contains. In their endless search for philosophical bases on the same, multiple questions on the issues of life and death arise such that the correct answers to personal identity determine the changes that one person undergoes, or may undergo without being extinct but rather continuing to exist. Personal identity philosophical theory confronts the most ultimate questions on our existence as well as who we are and if by any chance there is a possibility of life after death. In attempts to distinguish change in a person in survival and after death, a criterion of personal identity over time is given. Such criterion specifies all the necessary and sufficient conditions that must prevail for a person to continue to exist (Perry et al,103)

This essay looks at identity, specifically on an individual level as well as identity change, and acts of identification. Identity is difficult to define- it is not known exactly what forms out identity. But it is known that individuals have multiple identities, that come into practice depending on the context of where they are, and who they are with. A person has not only one self, but several selves that correspond to widening circles of group memberships. Different social context may trigger an individual to think, feel, and act on basis of their personal, family or national level of self, in addition to this a person also has multiple-social identies (self-concept derived from perceived memberships of social groups). Personal identity refers to self-knowledge derived from individual’s unique attributes. In addition, identity provides a link between individuals and the world they live in. It combines how they see their selves and how others see them, Identity involves the internal, the subjective, and the external, it is a socially recognised position, that is recognised by others not just the individual. It is for these reasons that social scientists find identity both individual and collective of interest. Acts of identification occur as a result of identity changes, which allow the individual to see themselves in another’s place, or to imagine themselves into a new identity. Identity change can mean different things on varying levels dependent on the ‘pace of change’,

In this regard, Wodak, De Cillia and Reisigl (1998:49) argue that Ricœur's philosophical theory of “narrative identity“ seems to be of particular importance, due to the fact, that a variety of scholars from a wide spectrum of disciplines appear to regard the conception of “identity“ as fixed and unchangeable. Furthermore, Wodak, De Cillia and Reisigl emphasis on the concept's intracicy and coherence. Therefore, Ricœur's philosophical theory of “narrative identity“ can serve as an approachable way to illuminate the conception of “identity“ in terms of its notion as being created.