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Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 275

May 24, 2023

Whole Brain Emulation

Posted by in categories: existential risks, mapping, neuroscience, robotics/AI

I had an amazing experience at the Foresight Institute’s Whole-Brain Emulation (WBE) Workshop at a venue near Oxford! For more information and a list of participants, see: https://foresight.org/whole-brain-emulation-workshop-2023/ I had the opportunity to work within a group of some of the most brilliant, ambitious, and visionary people I’ve ever encountered on the quest for recreating the human brain in a computer. We also discussed in depth the existential risks of upcoming artificial superintelligence and how to mitigate these risks, perhaps with the aid of WBE.

My subgroup focused on exploring the challenge of human connectomics (mapping all of the neurons and synapses in the brain).


WBE is a potential technology to generate software intelligence that is human-aligned simply by being based directly on human brains. Generally past discussions have assumed a fairly long timeline to WBE, while past AGI timelines had broad uncertainty. There were also concerns that the neuroscience of WBE might boost AGI capability development without helping safety, although no consensus did develop. Recently many people have updated their AGI timelines towards earlier development, raising safety concerns. That has led some people to consider whether WBE development could be significantly speeded up, producing a differential technology development re-ordering of technology arrival that might lessen the risk of unaligned AGI by the presence of aligned software intelligence.

May 24, 2023

Is It Real or Imagined? How Your Brain Tells the Difference

Posted by in category: neuroscience

New experiments show that the brain distinguishes between perceived and imagined mental images by checking whether they cross a “reality threshold.”

May 24, 2023

Scientists discovered a “minimum mechanism” required for consciousness

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Scientists stimulated the brains of macaque monkeys in an effort to determine which areas are responsible for driving consciousness.

May 24, 2023

Paralysed man walks again via thought-controlled implants

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A paralysed man has regained the ability to walk smoothly using only his thoughts for the first time, researchers said on Wednesday, thanks to two implants that restored communication between brain and spinal cord.

The patient Gert-Jan, who did not want to reveal his surname, said the breakthrough had given him “a freedom that I did not have” before.

The 40-year-old Dutchman has been paralysed in his legs for more than a decade after suffering a spinal cord injury during a bicycle accident.

May 24, 2023

Quantum sensors will start a revolution — if we deploy them right

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, quantum physics

From underground exploration to brain science and air-traffic control, the sensing potential of quantum devices is enormous. But they must first get out of the laboratory.

May 23, 2023

ChatGPT is giving therapy. A mental health revolution may be next

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, employment, health, neuroscience, robotics/AI

face_with_colon_three This new gold rush with AI will bring new jobs for even Psychiatry and Therapists which is already leading to new bots with human like therapists in texts. This could lead to even better mental health for the global population.


“Psychotherapy is very expensive and even in places like Canada, where I’m from, and other countries, it’s super expensive, the waiting lists are really long,” Ashley Andreou, a medical student focusing on psychiatry at Georgetown University, told Al Jazeera.

“People don’t have access to something that augments medication and is evidence-based treatment for mental health issues, and so I think that we need to increase access, and I do think that generative AI with a certified health professional will increase efficiency.”

Continue reading “ChatGPT is giving therapy. A mental health revolution may be next” »

May 23, 2023

Thinking Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology | Nita Farahany, ep102

Posted by in categories: media & arts, neuroscience, robotics/AI, singularity

Our guest is Nita Farahany, a Distinguished Professor at Duke University where she heads the Science, Law, and Policy Lab. The research she conducts in her lab specifically focuses on the implications of emerging neuroscience, genomics, and artificial intelligence; and, as a testament to her expertise, there is a long, long list of awards and influential positions she can lay claim to, including an appointment by Obama to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.

In this episode, we explore Nita’s recent publication, provocatively entitled, The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology. This takes us on our tour of the current neurotechnology that exists, the upcoming ways in which this tech will be integrated into our daily products, how it will shape our decision making, the profound list of ethical considerations surrounding cognitive liberty, and much more.

Continue reading “Thinking Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology | Nita Farahany, ep102” »

May 22, 2023

Have scientists found a “brake pedal” for aging?

Posted by in categories: life extension, neuroscience

A new protein discovery may have highlighted a ‘switch’ in brain cells that slows down inflammation and aging.

May 22, 2023

A new place for consciousness in our understanding of the universe

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, quantum physics

To make sense of mysteries like quantum mechanics and the passage of time, theorists are trying to reformulate physics to include subjective experience as a physical constituent of the world.

By Thomas Lewton

May 22, 2023

Cytoelectric Coupling: Electrical Fields Fine-Tune Brain Functioning

Posted by in categories: electronics, neuroscience

Summary: Scientists present a hypothesis dubbed “Cytoelectric Coupling” suggesting electrical fields within the brain can manipulate neuronal sub-cellular components, optimizing network stability and efficiency. They propose these fields allow neurons to tune the information-processing network down to the molecular level.

Comparatively, this process is akin to households arranging their TV setup for optimal viewing experience. The theory, open for testing, could significantly enhance our understanding of the brain’s inner workings.

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