Featured Image Credit: X / Michael Raduga
You know when people say, "It can't be that hard, it's not brain surgery," it seems one man tried to prove that saying wrong when he took it a little too seriously.
A Russian man decided to take his life in his hands when he performed his own neurosurgery on himself, all in an attempt to control his dreams.
With Elon Musk's Neuralink already pioneering brain chip technology by helping those with motor issues and potentially bringing sight to those who can't see, this is a corner of the tech world that we're only just getting to explore.
While we're not quite in the realms of Professor Charles Xavier just yet, Russian-American researcher Michael Raduga has tried to harness the power of his mind during a neurosurgery operation in May 2023.
Advert
Trying to place implant electrodes in the motor cortex of his brain, he wanted to experiment with direct brain stimulation in an attempt to influence and control his dreams.
Posting on X, the man from the Russian city of Novosibirsk showed off his injuries after he performed neurosurgery with a household drill.
BRAIN IMPLANT FOR LUCID DREAMING
— Michael Raduga (@MichaelRaduga) June 28, 2023
For the first time in history, we conducted direct electrical stimulation of the motor cortex of the brain during REM sleep, lucid dreams, and sleep paralysis. The results open up fantastic prospects for future dream control technologies. pic.twitter.com/qypqV6ntyV
Raduga explained: "I bought a drill, drilled a hole in my head and implanted an electrode in my brain."
At his apartment in Kazakhstan, he performed a trepanation by drilling a hole into his skull, then inserted a platinum and silicon electrode right into his brain.
Having taught himself this rudimentary version of neurosurgery by watching videos on YouTube, he conducted the four-hour surgery and lost nearly a liter of blood. Despite being rushed to the hospital and almost dying, he claims it shows "fantastic prospects for future dream control technologies."
In the graphic pictures posted on X, Raduga shows himself wrapped in bandages, as well as an X-ray that seems to show the electrode he implanted in his own head.
He wanted to test whether electrical stimulations of the motor cortex during REM sleep would let him influence the content of his dreams and control lucid dreaming.
Raduga claimed that in subsequent experiments, he was able to create scenarios such as causing objects to fall into a dreamer's hand. It was hoped that he could create more reliable methods of triggering lucid dreaming.
Unfortunately for Raduga, complications post-surgery led to the implants being removed just five weeks later. Doctors were especially concerned about long-term neurological damage and the fact he could've induced epilepsy.
Speaking to MailOnline, Raduga said: "I am glad I survived but I was ready to die. For many people, it will be some sort of entertainment.
"Now, imagine a paralysed person who cannot experience anything in this life and now we find a way to help him to get into a lucid dream where everything is possible. Have sex, eat something, do something interesting."
Raduga is the founder of Phase Research Center, which apparently provides beginner guidance on the likes of how to experience sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences, and astral projection.
