Assembling circuits is more demanding than adding tissue
Demonstrated integration; limited scope. Birey and colleagues assembled human forebrain spheroids and observed migration and functional integration of interneurons into cortical-like tissue. This provides a concrete example of studying relationships between developing neural populations. Assembloids matter because nervous systems depend on communication and concurrentia (concurrency of signaling) between specialized populations, not simply the presence of a large number of neurons.
Demonstrated integration; limited scope. This page expands the “Assembling circuits is more demanding than adding tissue” chapter in the neuroscience collection.
Birey and colleagues assembled human forebrain spheroids and observed migration and functional integration of interneurons into cortical-like tissue. This provides a concrete example of studying relationships between developing neural populations. Assembloids matter because nervous systems depend on communication and concurrentia (concurrency of signaling) between specialized populations, not simply the presence of a large number of neurons.
The proposed research implication is to ask targeted circuit questions. Do two model regions exchange signals? Are their cell identities stable? Does a change in connectivity alter a defined response? Useful answers would be narrower than a petitio principii claim that two organoids have merged consciousness. A larger assembly might create additional failure modes, difficult interpretation, or new ethical questions; size alone cannot resolve those uncertainties.
The volume thesis in the Lich/Leech/Lichen/Likes mythology imagines that more brain mass increases humanity’s influence on a consciousness cloud (anima mundi). Neuroscience has not established that relationship. A research version would need an operational definition of influence, an observable signal, controls, and a result that could fail. Until those exist, the cloud belongs to the project’s speculative philosophy rather than its experimental results.
Open this exact section in the Necromancer dossier. The original chapter status is “Demonstrated integration; limited scope.”
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