A Russian researcher with a cult claims to have a chip implanted in his brain in the bold hope of controlling his dreams.
Michael Raduga risked his life last month when he lost more than a “gallon of blood” during brain surgery on himself at his home in Kazakhstan.
The 40-year-old, who has no neurosurgical qualifications, compared his extremely dangerous experiment to the Inception film – claiming that his “electrode” may one day have the potential to change the course of lucid dreaming.
Gruesome footage of the procedure shows him holding his skin back with paperclips while bulldozing the back of his skull with a drill he found at a hardware store.
The life-threatening study has not appeared in any peer-reviewed journal and is not supported by any university, but Mr Raduga claimed he had to do it himself.
Mr Raduga, 40, implanted an electrode in his brain to ‘control his dreams’
“I’m glad I survived, but I was ready to die,” he told MailOnline in an exclusive interview.
“For many people it will be a form of entertainment. Now imagine a paralyzed person who cannot experience anything in this life and now we find a way to help him get into a lucid dream where anything is possible. Have sex, eat something, do something interesting.’
Mr. Raduga is the founder of Phase Research Center, which claims to provide beginner’s guidance on how to experience sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences, and “astral projection.”
Although not a doctor, Mr. Raduga’s previous work has caught the attention of thousands, with videos encouraging the idea that lucid dreaming is the perfect opportunity to do “dirty business.”
This includes eating fast food, having sex with “porn stars or your favorite neighbor,” or even doing drugs and driving a Ferrari.
Now, with his new platinum and silicon implant, he claims to have taken this up a notch by using the power of electricity to trigger certain actions in dreams.
He put the chip in his brain after spending hours watching YouTube videos about neurosurgery and practicing on five sheep — he didn’t tell anyone about his plans.
While this was eventually removed after five weeks in hospital, Phase Today followers have already been asked if they would be “willing to get a brain implant for more efficient lucid dreaming.”
The electrode implant is made of platinum and silicon. Mr. Raduga claims that electrical triggers sent to this electrode can affect the course of lucid dreaming
The Russian performed brain surgery on himself in his living room in Kazakhstan
“During the first 30 minutes, I was often ready to give up because I lost a lot of blood first – about a liter of blood. And I was afraid that I would lose consciousness,” he told MailOnline.
“I finished the surgery, I took a shower, and I worked for 10 hours straight… people didn’t know.
“By using VR technologies that you can’t touch, you can’t eat, you can’t feel pleasure, and so on. These kinds of technologies are limited – they’re cool, very good, but they have limitations.
“Sooner or later we will generally understand that we have a world where anything is possible.”
While there is a chance that Mr. Raduga may experience long-term complications in the aftermath of this procedure, some have expressed their admiration for the content creator.
In response to photos of his recovery, one person wrote, “What’s going on? People all over the world love you, you know that? Can you please tell us something?’
Another added, “No mess here, fair play Iron Mike.”
Despite this, consultant neurosurgeon, Alex Green of the University of Oxford, denounced Mr Raduga for his ‘dangerous’ actions.
“This is an extremely dangerous thing to do,” he told MailOnline.
Neurosurgery should only be performed by experienced and qualified neurosurgeons. All sorts of complications could have occurred.
“For example, if he had caused a hemorrhage from a cortical vein or an intracerebral vessel, he could have suffered a stroke with permanent deficiency or death.
Mr. Raduga is the founder of Phase Research Center, which claims to provide beginner’s guidance on how to experience sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences, and “astral projection.”
While this was eventually removed after five weeks in hospital, Phase Today followers have already been asked if they would be “willing to get a brain implant for more efficient lucid dreaming”
“There would have been a high risk of infection. In the UK and most countries if he does this to someone else he could be found guilty of grievous bodily harm, manslaughter – anyone to allow it would be very stupid.’
In the UK, it is illegal to implant a medical device in a brain that is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration or CE marked unless it has specific approval.
It is possible that Mr Raduga could also be at risk for epilepsy in the long run if scarring is caused to the cortex of his brain, Mr Green said.
He continued, “In terms of whether a device can be used to alter dreams, the answer is that it hasn’t been shown yet. In reality, we are probably decades away from being able to synthesize new experiences.
‘Our group has shown that certain deep brain nuclei can be stimulated to change sleep stages – but more complex than that is highly experimental.’