When passion for research meets recklessness, experiments like the one in Michael Raduga. The founder of Phase Research Center decided that waiting for ethical approval to test brain electrodes for dream control was too boring. So, armed with a hardware store drill and YouTube tutorials, he set out to implant a chip into his own brain. Ten hours of home transplantation, a liter of blood loss, and five weeks with electrodes in his head: all to prove that lucid dreams can be controlled.
The doctors are horrified, he is convinced he has opened a new frontier, my head hurts a little: but I'll tell you anyway.
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On May 17, 2023, in the apartment of Michael Raduga In Almaty, Kazakhstan, one of the craziest autotransplants in modern history took place. With no medical qualifications, no general anesthesia, and no supervision, this researcher drilled into his own skull with a drill purchased at a hardware store. The preparation? Hours of YouTube videos showing neurosurgeons at work and experiments on sheep.
Raduga said he used staples to hold the skin in place and “operated” for ten hours straight.
“In the first 30 minutes I was ready to give up many times because I lost a lot of blood, about a liter,” he said in an interview.
The autotransplant had a specific goal: to implant platinum and silicone electrodes in the motor cortex, the area of the brain responsible for moving the fingers of the left hand.
Autotransplant to Hack REM Dreams
Raduga's autotransplant experiment was born out of years of research into lucid dreaming. His Phase Research Center is developing technologies to control altered states of consciousness during sleep. The idea was to demonstrate that electrical stimulation of the motor cortex during REM sleep could directly influence the content of dreams.
In the weeks following the autotransplant, Raduga conducted experiments on himself. Hooking up electrodes to an electrical stimulation system, he tested the effect of the currents during lucid dreams. The results published on ResearchGate show that the stimulation did not awaken the subject, but caused changes in his dream contents.
The most interesting aspect of the autotransplant was documented during a lucid dream in which Raduga was able to intentionally observe a contraction induced by electrical stimulation, which interacted with a dream object. For the first time in history, someone has found a direct connection between brain stimulation and dream manipulation.
The reactions
Raduga's transplant has sparked harsh reactions from the international medical community. Alex Green, a neurosurgeon at Oxford University, called the operation “extremely dangerous,” noting that it “could cause stroke, permanent deficits, or death.” The lack of medical training obviously made the transplant even riskier.
After five weeks, however, Raduga was forced to have the electrodes removed in the hospital. Doctors were concerned about possible long-term neurological damage and the risk of epilepsy caused by scarring in the cerebral cortex. As I pointed out in this article On new neural interfaces, there are much less invasive methods of accessing the brain.
The scars from the autotransplant are still visible in the photos Raduga shared on social media, accompanied by the sarcastic phrase: “They say that to start a new phase of life, you must first free your head.”
Science or entertainment?
The autotransplant experiment has divided public opinion. On the one hand, Raduga's supporters see him as a courageous pioneer willing to risk everything for science. On the other, skeptics see him as a dangerous showman who put his life at risk for publicity.
Raduga himself admitted, “I’m glad I survived, but I was ready to die.” He justified the transplant by explaining that it could help paralyzed people have full experiences in lucid dreams, where “they can have sex, eat, do interesting things.”
The researcher is already looking for volunteers willing to undergo brain implants for more efficient lucid dreaming, but experts like ours Neuromed of Pozzilli (whom I met through unpleasant family events) demonstrate that safe transplants require specialized teams and rigorous protocols.
The Future Beyond Extreme Autotransplantation
As extreme as it was, Raduga's transplant raised important questions about the future of brain-computer interfaces. Companies like Neuralink are developing similar technologies, but with (more or less) rigorous safety protocols and constant medical supervision.
Lucid dreaming research continues to advance with safer methods. Devices like those developed by foc.us promise to stimulate the brain without invasive autotransplants, while large-scale studies are mapping the neural mechanisms of dreaming.
Raduga's autotransplant will probably remain an isolated case in the history of neuroscience, a reminder of how thin the line between scientific genius and recklessness can be. But it has perhaps confirmed that, sometimes, extreme gestures are needed to push science beyond its conventional limits.
