BY ADA BROWNELL
A few days the news reported a computer chip has been developed that is expected to control or prevent Alzheimer's Disease.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine in November 2012 surgically implanted a pacemaker-like device into the brain of a patient in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, one of the first such operations in the United States--and now it appears the brain computer chip works. The device, which provides deep brain stimulation and has been used in thousands of people with Parkinson’s disease, is seen as a possible means of boosting memory and reversing cognitive decline.
This interested me since in my novel, Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult, a missing computer design for a chip to control grand mal seizures is an integral part of the story. Here's the section from the book, published in 2012 and enjoyed by youth as well as adults. I hadn't even heard of the Alzheimer's chip. The idea came to me in interviewing physicians about epilepsy and seizures during my seven years on the medical beat for The Pueblo Chieftain.
First the book summary:
Joe the Dreamer: The Castle
and the Catapult
By A.B. Brownell
Enter an area
where people are missing and radicals want to obliterate Christianity from the
earth. Joe Baker’s parents are missing and
he finds himself with someone after him. Joe joins a gang committed to
preventing and solving crimes with harmless things such as noise, water, and a
pet skunk instead of blades and bullets Praying for his parents’ return, in his
dreams Joe slips into the skin of Bible characters. He ends up in a mental
hospital. Will he escape or be harmed? Will he find his parents? Does God
answer prayer?
No fantasy. No wizard, but suspense. Christian
payload. Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult
Reviewer:
“A.B. Brownell weaves a tale of intrigue and faith which captures the reader
from the opening page.”
Excerpt from Chapter Four:
“Darin,” Kermesis said. “It’s time you came to your
senses.
Darin turned toward his former boss, the trowel
still in his hand. “I created the design to work within the brain because my
little brother used to have grand mal seizures. He’d scream and then fall
unconscious on the floor, and the violent muscle contractions began. Sometimes
he’d lose bladder and bowel control. He’d wake up with a severe headache,
ashamed, embarrassed, and weak.”
Darin took a deep breath. “In epilepsy, grand mal
seizures are caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The proposed
chip will be designed to keep cranial activity in the normal range—similar to
how a heart pacemaker works to correct abnormal heart beats.”
“That’s exactly why I want it!”
“Medications prevent seizures in some people,” Darin
continued, folding his arms across his bony chest. “Geodesic brain mapping now
shows which parts of the brain cause seizures. In some cases, neurosurgeons
remove parts of the brain to interrupt nerve pathways through which seizure
impulses spread.”
Kermesis tried to interrupt, but Darin put up his
hand and kept talking.
“Vagus nerve stimulators about the size of a silver
dollar are one of the new treatments. Surgeons implant them in the upper chest,
yet even that rarely eliminates all seizures and works for only about half the
patients.[1]
I’m hoping my device will be developed and will work for folks other treatments
don’t help.”
Kermesis
grinned. “Look around. Did you notice
that we’ve gathered a bunch of religious nuts who are significant opinion
leaders?”
Darin wiped his long hair off his brow as
perspiration dripped into his beard. “My brother died when he had three grand
mal seizures in one morning. I’ve lived for the day when I could prevent others
from going through that agony. My design might not control seizures, but it’s
worth a try. I thought you would help me get clinical trials and market it. So
you want me to give it to you so you can sell it?”
Kermesis stepped closer. “Listen to me carefully if
you don’t want us to get Joe and Penny. I want you to change the program so it
will cause seizures instead of stopping them.”
“What?”
“Change it so it will cause a person to have a
seizure if he says the name Jesus or God or words like ‘sin,’ ‘repent,’
‘pray’—things like that. No one will ever know we are intercepting brain waves
in these religious leaders,’ but it will destroy their ability to persuade or
probably even to think. If you program it right, they’ll never remember being
here.”
“That would be the most despicable use of modern
technology ever created—if it would work,” Darin said. “I won’t have anything
to do with it.” He returned to working on the wall.
Kermesis grabbed Darin by the shoulder and looked
him in the eye. “I respect you and your work, but I’ll do anything to get that
software design. You saw how upset Rose was when I mentioned the children. I
would hate to see how she’ll react when I bring you a finger or toe every week
from Joe and Penny. Or when I bring them here to join our youth class.”
“Youth class?”
“Yes. Part of the revolution is beginning right
here, and teenagers will have a vital part in it. We are training moldable
young people to be arsonists and suicide bombers.”
Darin couldn’t believe his ears. “You’re part of
some Middle East terrorist group?”
“No! We will bomb Christians everywhere, and
everyone will think it’s al-Qaeda or some other group of Middle East Jihadists.
It’s perfect.”
“Kermesis, you’re scaring me. You’re not using this
as a threat?”
“Look around you. Do you think we took these people
off the streets to build a wall?”
“Don’t you hang out with a psychiatrist? Have you
talked to him? If you’re serious about this terrorist plot, I worry about your
sanity.”
Kermesis went into a fit of laughter. “Yes, I’ve
talked to him. He heartily approves.”
How could he stand there and lie with such
sincerity? “My gut says I’ll never give that design to you because of what you
want to do with it.” Darin wiped mortar off his trowel, a sick feeling of
despair flowing over him. “But I don’t want you to touch our kids.”
Kermesis chuckled and walked away.
USE THIS LINK TO BUY THE BOOK OR READ FIRST CHAPTER
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