It’s possible to upload your brain to a computer, but technology needs to advance first. Here’s what has to happen before we emulate a mind.
Category: neuroscience – Page 417
Elon says we’ll have *ANYTHING* we want
Zuby Interviews Elon Musk: https://youtu.be/pjc_oo4ApSY?si=AHD8kdwXqmB1wrjpNeura Pod is a series covering topics related to Neuralink, Inc. Topics such as br…
The ARC nerve-stimulation system could help quadriplegic patients move their arms again
How well that translation occurs remains to be seen while the patient learns and adapts to the new system. “The implant procedures involving the Onward ARC-IM and Clinatec BCI went smoothly,” Dr. Bloch said in an press release. “We are now working with the patient to use this cutting-edge innovation to recover movement of his arms, hands, and fingers. We look forward to sharing more information in due course.”
“If the therapy continues to show promise, it is possible it could reach patients by the end of the decade,” Onward CEO Dave Marver said in a statement to Engadget. “It is important to note that we do not expect people with spinal cord injury to wait that long for Onward to commercialize an impactful therapy — we hope to commercialize our external spinal cord stimulation solution, ARC-EX Therapy, to restore hand and arm function in the second half of 2024.”
Onward Medical among a quickly expanding field of BCI-based startups working to apply the fledgling technology to a variety of medical maladies. Those applications include loss of limb and self-regulatory function due to stroke, traumatic brain or spinal cord injury, physical rehabilitation from those same injuries, as well as a critical means of communication for people living with Locked-In Syndrome.
Architecture for Preventing Cognitive Decline: Contributions from Neuroscience to Healthy Aging
Cognitive decline is a growing public health concern that affects millions of people around the world. Amid an aging population, strategies that help prevent or mitigate cognitive deterioration become increasingly relevant to support healthy aging and maintaining independence for longer. Studies in the field of neuroscience applied to architecture (neuroarchitecture) have shown that the physical environment, both internal and external, public and private, plays a fundamental role in this aspect [1]. In this sense, architects and urban planners can direct their projects to create solutions that significantly contribute to this objective.
The human brain is a very plastic organ. In other words, it transforms functionally and structurally according to how it is stimulated. Although this plasticity is much more intense during the development period, it continues to exist throughout our lives [2,3]. Therefore, keeping the brain stimulated during adulthood and aging is key to keeping cognition functioning at its best. In this context, recent studies indicate that certain stimuli help in the development of a cognitive reserve [4]. This, in turn, is the brain’s resilience capacity, which helps it to remain functional even throughout aging and even when some neurodegenerative diseases arise [5].
Putting On The Most Advanced Brain Scan Helmet Known to Man (Kernel Neuroscience fNIRS Helmet)
Dr. Cody Visits Kernel Neuroscience Headquarters and tries on the Kernel Flow.
►►► INSTAGRAM (Behind The Scenes with Cody Rall MD):
https://www.instagram.com/codyrall_techforpsych/
►►► Dr. Cody’s presentation to Harvard/Digital Psychiatry: https://www.sodpsych.org/events.
►►► Kernel Lab and Aimlab footage posted with permission from Kernel: https://www.kernel.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXifD9arenz_20VlzLDHbwA
Cody Rall, M.D., is a United States Navy trained Psychiatrist who specializes in neurotechnology wearables. He is a co-founder of Stanford Brainstorm, the world’s first academic laboratory dedicated to transforming brain health through entrepreneurship.
Dr. Rall also served as a selection judge and team member of the psychiatry innovation lab, an annual national competition at the American Psychiatric Association that works as an incubator for groups developing technological solutions to problems in mental health care. He is the founder of Techforpsych, a media and relations company that covers advancements in technology related to neuroscience.
Study shows that perception is driven by variability of neural activity in the sensory cortex
The brain is a sophisticated biological system known to produce different experiences and perceptions via complex dynamics. Different brain regions and neural populations commonly work in tandem, communicating with each other to ultimately produce specific behaviors and sensations.
Researchers at University of Oxford and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization recently carried out a study aimed at better understanding the neural dynamics underpinning this communication between neural populations. Their findings, gathered in Nature Neuroscience, show that the probability that mice will perceive something is linked to a variability of neural activity in the brain region that processes the incoming stimulus information.
“Generally, we are interested in how the brain processes information,” James Rowland and Thijs Van der Plas, co-authors of the paper, told Medical Xpress. “The brain receives inputs from the senses which reflect what is happening in the world around it. It must then make sense of this information and use it to make decisions and take actions. To achieve this, the brain is built on a principle of division of labor, where different regions are specialized to perform distinct tasks.”
Elon is Right. Having to Live Forever is a Curse. Here’s How to Solve It
Let’s say that it is a curse. The issue is he is also against life extension entirely. Maybe I want 200 years. Or 1,000. I have zero concern over a boredom problem as it is brain process which can eventually be controlled. And I am disgusted with the idea that I have to die because we might not progress very fast? Ugh.
Elon Musk has said a lot of potentially stupid stuff about aging and longevity, from saying that people shouldn’t live very long because society would ossify to advocating that we judge people based on their chronological age. Most recently, he’s taken to Twitter (aka X) to say “May you live forever is the worst possible curse once you understand deep time.” In this case though, he’s not wrong.
In this episode, we explore the diverse perspectives and heated debates triggered by Elon’s provocative statements on aging and the prospect of eternal life. We navigate through the complexities of deep time, the philosophical implications of living forever, and the importance of autonomy and control. Join host Ryan O’Shea as we examine arguments in favor of human’s being able to end their own lives, and explore how this played out in NBC’s The Good Place, starting Kristen Bell.
Learn why Elon is right about having to live forever being a curse, and how to solve it. Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments, like, and subscribe for more.
References:
Brain implants may get a broadband boost with new approach
Researchers have proposed employing wireless neural implants to execute communication between the human brain and computers.
Purdue University researchers have unveiled a new method that may enable a compact brain-implanted sensor to sense and transmit data to a wearable device shaped like headphones.
Amyloid Beta and Serotonin May Be Keys to Predicting Who Develops Late-Life Depression
Image from a Johns Hopkins Medicine study showing PET scans from brains of people with and without late-life depression. The brains of patients with late-life depression show more yellow to red regions (scans on the left), indicating higher amyloid beta protein levels, and more blue regions (scans on the right), indicating lower serotonin transporter levels. Both imaging measures are markers of late-life depression. Credit: Graphic adapted from Smith et al, Nature, Sept. 13, 2021.