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CYBORG ODYSSEY 149

British robotics researcher Kevin Warwick holds up his cyborg arm. While the
implant itself is not visible, Warwick had a friend design a cyberpunkish-looking
gauntlet to contain the interface circuitry. (Photo ©iCube Solutions Inc.)

Warwick was eight, however, his father developed severe agorapho-
bia, or fear of open spaces. When rest and therapy did not seem to
help, the doctors resorted to a neurological operation. (During this
period, brain surgery for psychological problems was more prevalent
than it is today.)
The surgeons opened small holes in Warwick’s father’s head and
severed some nerve connections. The operation succeeded in remov-
ing the agoraphobia. In his autobiography, I, Cyborg, Warwick
recalled that “It was father’s illness and subsequent cure that first
prompted me to think objectively about how the human brain
operates and what exactly our mental processes are all about.”
Warwick’s fascination with neurology would eventually bear fruit
in innovative research.