The other day I came across an article that covered a watershed scientific news out of Washington University in St. Louis, in the US. Apparently, the researchers managed to use ultrasound bombardment of a section of the brain (the section called Hypothalamus preoptic) in mice and rats to trigger artificial hibernation. I am sure you know these rodents do not normally hibernate.
When the mice received the ultrasound pulses, their body temperature dropped by 3°C and their heart rate by 47%, and they entered the hibernation state. Furthermore, with a closed feedback loop, if the body showed signs of ‘waking up’, another round of pulses put them right back in the ‘rest mode’. After 24 hours, the researchers shut off the system, the animals woke up and it was apparently business as usual. The approach worked with rats as well, albeit the body temperature dropped by only 1°C. Now the team plans to experiment with larger animals before eventually applying to conduct such experiments with humans.
The article goes on to explain the benefits of such a treatment in case it succeeds with humans, such as sending humans on long space journeys, or certainly slowing down the metabolism in case of serious injuries or heart attacks, to give more time for treatment.
I can’t help but to think of what I read a few decades ago about cryogenic freezing. The stories - never found out if they were true or just myths - about some rich people seeking to be frozen right as they are dying, or just died, in hope of coming back to life once a cure and a method for resuscitation are developed. So I wonder if in a few years, ultrasound hibernation becomes the new rich man’s - or woman’s - fad to live forever. I guess we can now shout ‘long live the bears’!
Paris, June 1, 2023
Zeejay