Last updated: 2020-06-17
Requirements
The requirements necessary for replacement hypothalamus functionality involve the following high-level elements.
Input
Status: Research Phase
Organic Model: a significant portion of the input received by the hypothalamus comes from the brainstem itself. However, the hypothalamus is considered part of the limbic system, and therefore has interconnectivity with other parts of the brain as well.
Engineered Models: interfacing with a high enough resolution to these neural connection points is necessary before an engineered solution can have an equivalent amount of information feedback provided by the host body. Insufficient data received would likely result in subsatisfactory performance of processing, and therefore functionality, of an engineered solution. One potential short-term solution would be external sensors which directly monitor the conditions of organs which the engineered solution intends to regulate. This would circumvent the need to use the body’s organic information network to receive this information, potentially making it easier to obtain adequate data input to the engineered hypothalamus.
Processing
Status: Research Phase
Organic Model: various clusters of neurons within the hypothalamus, called ‘nuclei’, are each dedicated to the regulation of specific autonomic body functions. For example, one such nucleus in the hypothalamus is responsible for regulating heart rate, while another is responsible for thermoregulation.
Engineered Models: provided an adequate quality, quantity, and latency of data is available to an engineered hypothalamus, software could be used to calculate appropriate changes to be made in the various organs under its purview. Data quality defines the best possible quality of the calculations that could be made. Data quantity determines the confidence in the data received, and helps with error correction and addressing mitigating factors. The latency of the data received determines the lowest possible response time the engineered solution can provide in the face of changing conditions, and helps mitigate under- or over-correction of autonomic system functionality.
Output
Status: Research Phase
Organic Model: the organic hypothalamus influences the organs it regulates through two primary mechanisms: neural signalling and chemical (hormonal) signalling.
Engineered Models: just as the case with input into an engineered solution, output has similar considerations. The most elegant solution would be to use the inherent signalling mechanisms within the body. However, doing so requires successfully overcoming the same technical challenges as per input: adequate signal quality, quantity, and latency. The workarounds are similar as well: providing direct, external signalling to specific organs would likely involve much less technical challenge.
Available Devices
Pacemakers
Pacemakers have been in use for some time now, and offer independent regulation of heart rate, separate from the brain, using implanted and external devices. These devices are generally thought to be reliable, are widely commercially available, and relatively affordable.
All other autonomic functions
At this time, no other widely available commercial solutions exist for replacing some or all of the functions for which the hypothalamus is responsible. Pacemakers have likely been targeted due to the prevalence of cardiac issues across the global population, versus having a prevalent vitality-based need for an engineered solution for other functionality, such as thermoregulation, sweat gland secretion, circadian rhythms, and so forth.
