Scientists at Boston University and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan believe that learning new skills by just “uploading data” into our brain is set to become a reality in the near future.
It is called Decoded Neurofeedback (DecNef), and is the result of a research based on a functional magnetic resonance machine (FMRI) that can ‘induce’ knowledge in someone through their visual cortex by sending signals that change their brain activity pattern.
Here’s an introduction video:
The trick is to incept a specific brain pattern into the ‘Adult early visual areas”, which are sufficiently plastic to cause visual perceptual learning. Basically there’s no need of medication because learners would just sit in front of a computer and download the informations they need. This process has been tested on a group of volunteers and the detailed procedure is available for a better inside-look here.
Of course this is just a first step closer to the goal of auto-learning, which, in any case, would have serious ethical and social implications, although the movie “The Matrix” has quite clearly defined some of the potential applications.
The Memory Pill: how to upgrade our brain
Recently, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine found that if a molecule called PKR is inhibited, it leads to brain activity which helps the formation of long-term memories in the adult brain. The key aspect is that this molecule can be artificially inhibited so, as Dr Mauro Costa-Mattioli from Baylor says:
‘It is indeed quite amazing that we can also enhance both memory and brain activity with a drug that specifically targets PKR. Our identity and uniqueness is made up of our memories. This molecule could hold the key to how we can keep our memories longer, but also how we create new ones.’
Some might be concerned of how much of this new technology will truly enhance human’s life in terms of brain evolution, because it sounds like we could just hack our body, becoming a sort of super-human beings.
Despite the transhumanist movement has already taken this path, i think the most relevant element to keep in consideration would be this overflow of data and synaptic activity, which could lead to unknown responses by the brain. Do new forms of digital addiction lie ahead?
Available Resources:
