Optogenetics - What is a Spirit?

The Science

Recent advances in genetics and microscopy have led to the development of a new series of instruments that can both “see” and “create” thought. One of the most popular tools for modern brain studies is optogenetics, a combination of optics and genetics that allows scientists to both visualize neuron firing and control it [1].

Using genetics, scientists can genetically modify an animal or tissue sample with a calcium indicator– a protein that fluoresces differently as neurons fire. Related to the proteins found in jellyfish and coral that make those animals glow in different colors under UV light, a calcium indicator changes the amount of glow produced based on whether the neuron is firing or not. A fluorescence microscope is then used to image the neurons, and they get brighter when they fire.

Transgenic Zebrafish Larvae imaged simultaneously at the dorsal plane and Ventral plane 100µm apart. Tg(elavl3:H2B-GCaMP7f), Elavl3 is a pan-neuronal promoter. Collected at 512×512 at 2Hz. Zebrafish courtesy of Dr. Jessica Nelson and Dr. Florian Engert, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. 

Another protein, similar to those found in our eyes, can be inserted into the animal’s DNA. These proteins, called opsins [2], respond to light. The neurons are then made light-sensitive in that they are forced to fire when a certain wavelength of light shines on them. Modern microscopes use directed laser light to choose which neuron or neurons will be forced to fire and when.

Temporal-focused laser spots stimulate specific neurons in a transgenic zebrafish

Much effort has been used to increase the number of neurons scientists are able to watch at the same time; original instruments could see only one, and modern instruments can see hundreds [3]. Exotic lasers are used to be able to see deeper into the brains of live animals, and now scientists will be able to record tens of thousands of neurons simultaneously in a fully alive, awake animal.

The images taken show flashes of light as the neurons fire and connect to nearby neurons while input lasers make them fire. Literally, the scientists are watching thoughts flash across their screens. Advanced computers with artificial intelligence are being used to analyze huge datasets and figure out how thoughts work. Already, scientists are understanding how the senses are translated in the brain to lead to behavioral changes.

By carefully forcing neurons to fire and watching how each pulse is transmitted, scientists are learning intricate details about how the neurons are connected. These are the basic building blocks of thought. Scientists are beginning to be able to “short-circuit” the brain by forcing neurons to fire the way they respond to sensory inputs, thus causing the behavior. This means, that in a very real way, scientists can cause an animal to see or smell something that is not there.

Currently, scientists are barely able to begin understanding the most basic brain responses. For example, they can watch a live mouse on a treadmill and observe its neurons fire in real time. Then they can touch the mouse's whisker with a motorized brush  at a specific time and observe the neurons firing as the mouse responds to the sensation. Scientists can now understand less than 10% of what is going on in the brain when the whisker is touched. They are far from actually understanding more complicated thought processes [4].

The Religion 

"And the spirit and the body are the soul of man." —D&C 88:15

A human soul is composed of a body and a spirit combined. Without the spirit, the body is dead, and without the body, the spirit cannot be seen or heard. The spirit is often referred to as the controlling force, the source of thinking, the integral core of what makes us who we are. Often, we imagine ourselves as a small person watching the world through the window of our eyes, steering the body to do what it does.

"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." — James 2:26

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." — Genesis 2:7

We are taught that when we die, our body begins to decompose and our spirit remains behind in the spirit world. We understand little about the spirit world, but the spirits still have a sense of self and can still progress and learn. We are taught that it is difficult to change or learn as a spirit, and the spirits view their time apart from a body as a state of imprisonment. Before being born, our spirits rejoiced at the opportunity to come to the earth and receive a body.

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;" —1 Peter 3:18-19

We do not fully understand what a spirit is, only that everything has a spirit, and it has these properties:

• Spirit is light or intelligence
• Spirit is matter, but is more fine
• Our spirit is how we communicate with God
• Spirit cannot be seen

"There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes" —D&C 131:7

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" —Romans 8:16

What is spirit? What is brain?

Imagine what it is like to be a spirit. Movies and fiction show the spirit world as see-through people conversing with each other. Activities include floating around, laughing, hugging, perhaps enduring tortures in hell, or listening to choirs in heaven. There are some logical problems with this entire idea.

First, we see light by the opsins in our eyes responding to photons. Colors are different wavelengths of light. Our spirits have no opsins or eyes, so if they can see, it is only their spirit opsins responding to spiritual light. If there is color, it would undoubtedly be drastically different from what we see now.

Hearing is the movement of our eardrums with fluctuations in the air. Spirits have no eardrums and thus if their spiritual eardrums could sense anything, it would be only spiritual fluctuations. Similarly, spirits would not be able to talk, hug, feel pain, or feel pleasure in any semblance of what we experience with a body.

Scientists are learning about the deeper functions of the brain and now know a lot about how the brain works with memory, logic, emotions, motivations, addictions, and even how we associate with each other. Functions that used to be assumed were the domain of the spirit are now clearly at least greatly influenced by our physical brains. Fear, love, hate, and even indifference are all currently being studied and someday may prove to be part of our mental machine.

So now consider a spectrum of conscience that represents our thoughts and the functions that make us who we are:

The left represents basic mental functions that most can agree are controlled by our brains. On the right are the abstract concepts that we associate with our spirits and are what make our human experience different than, say, a mouse’s. Science is now telling us that more and more functions to the right are controlled by the brain. So what then is the difference between your spirit and your brain? How does the fact that we will soon be able to measure and create thought affect how we understand the difference? Here are some possible theories that could explain more, as to which one is correct… we will keep exploring.

The brain/spirit divide theory

One possible result of the spectrum of conscience is that we are now understanding more clearly where the division is between what the spirit does and what the brain does. There is a clear divide, and the divide just happens to be to the right of where we thought it was. If this is true, then eventually scientists will reach an end to what they can describe. Even when the brain is entirely divided, categorized, numbered, and understood, we still will not be able to understand the higher functions that make us children of God as opposed to animals. Perhaps we will be able to model how the brain helps us make logical decisions, but we will never truly be able to model consciousness. 

Currently, there is no clear boundary where the steady progress of science will not reach. We are taught God is love. Now, science is starting to pick apart the physiological how and why of love--is love then not of the spirit?

The joint ownership theory

Another interpretation is that both the spirit and the brain are involved in all these functions. Perhaps the brain is what converts what our eyes see into the scenes that we process into thought, but during the whole process, the spirit is there responding to the photons, forming thoughts, and directing the processing.

In this theory, the idea of a little person driving your body around is erroneous. Every cell of your body is alive and thus has both parts of the soul. Thus, the spirit too is divided into cells, forms organs, and, more importantly, forms neurons along with all of the neurons in our brain. Thus, there is no divide, and the spirit matches the body on a cellular level.

"Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh." —Ether 3:16

A modification of this is that there may be a difference between what the body experiences and what the spirit experiences, but there is a certain amount of overlap. As an example, when feeling fear, the body accounts for 90% and the spirit 10%; and for matters of worship, the numbers are flipped. Thus, the body and spirit are more like partners in our mortal existence.

The enigmatic Orz theory

In an old science fiction game, there was a race of multidimensional beings, called the Orz, that would project their “appendages” into our dimension as some fish-like aliens to battle. Humans would see them as technologically advanced fish, but the Orz saw themselves as just a fingertip of something much larger and grander. Like how if we could stick our three-dimensional finger into the world of a Superman comic, Superman would see it as some weird floating oblong circle. This theory states that even though our spirit and body are joined in this world, perhaps perfectly melded as in the joint ownership theory, there is a lot more to our spirit that we just don’t understand. Perhaps it exists as a multidimensional being that is so much bigger than just its projection in the mortal world. The spirit is responding to stimuli in its dimension, outside of what we can see, hear, and touch.

Eternal happiness

Think back to the spirit floating in the spirit world. Not only can the spirit not see, hear, or touch, but it probably no longer has memories, nor senses time, emotions, or logic in the same way as we do now. Perhaps there is a very big reason why the spirits rejoiced at the chance to come here and get a body. Perhaps there is an even bigger reason why the spirit and body joined eternally gives us the full measure of happiness. 

"Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even from the first death unto life, that they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they can no more see corruption." — Alma 11:45

"Their sleeping dust was to be restored unto its perfect frame, bone to his bone, and the sinews and the flesh upon them, the spirit and the body to be united never again to be divided, that they might receive a fulness of joy." — D&C 138:17

"For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;" — D&C 93:33

[1] Optogenetics for light control of biological systems. Nature Reviews
Next-Generation Optical Technologies for Illuminating Genetically Targeted Brain Circuits. Journal of Neuroscience
[2] Millisecond-timescale, genetically targeted optical control of neural activity. Nature
[3] Fast volumetric calcium imaging across multiple cortical layers using sculpted light. Nature Methods
[4] Optogenetics and Controlling the Human Mind.