Last year, scientists inferentially detected the existence of 2D visual mental representations that fundamentally change vision science. “The question becomes, what are they exactly? Are they patterns of neurons firing? Are they some kind of phenomenon not necessarily reducible to any kind of physical substrate?” Asks Jessica M. Wilson, philosopher and author of the book Metaphysical Emergence.
Coming up, scientists and philosophers spanning three countries weigh in on an experiment to discover the material nature of consciousness and the content of our experiences.
Let’s start with a definition: Consciousness is awareness. It’s the qualitative experience of that awareness — what it’s like to be something.
It’s awe-inspiring to realize that there is a complex intelligence in every living cell. Two questions arise: Is it the intelligence of the cell? That seems inconsistent with how we usually use the word “intelligence.” If we see that a one-celled life form functions with lot of intelligence, perhaps it is more like a book that contains great ideas. Paper doesn’t create ideas; neither, by itself, does protoplasm. Something else is at work.
If the cell itself does not create the intelligence it embodies, what does? Panpsychists argue that all of nature participates in some way in consciousness and humans are the most highly developed example. Theists argue that only a mind outside the universe could create something like human consciousness.
As we learn more and more about the intricate complexities of nature, perhaps debates over the origin of life, intelligence, consciousness, and similar topics will increasingly be between panpsychists and theists rather than materialists and theists. A whole new environment.
Many people develop Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia as they get older. However, others remain sharp well into old age, even if their brains show underlying signs of neurodegeneration.
Among these cognitively resilient people, researchers have identified education level and amount of time spent on intellectually stimulating activities as factors that help prevent dementia. A new study by MIT researchers shows that this kind of enrichment appears to activate a gene family called MEF2, which controls a genetic program in the brain that promotes resistance to cognitive decline.
The researchers observed this link between MEF2 and cognitive resilience in both humans and mice. The findings suggest that enhancing the activity of MEF2 or its targets might protect against age-related dementia.
Summary: Researchers shed light on how sensory information and cognitive processing interact in the brain to produce our perception of the world around us.
Source: SfN
New findings from studies in both people and animals are revealing clues about how sensory information and cognitive processes interact in the brain to produce our perception of the world.
There’s an odd twist to human physiology not seen in any other primate 0 that makes giving birth more complicated for our species. Now, a study using biomechanical modelling on gait and posture has provided some insights into this long-standing mystery.
The narrow shape of the human birth canal is kinked at the inlet, so that contractions of the mother must rotate the baby’s big brain and wide shoulders nearly 90 degrees to fit into the pelvis.
The concept and technology behind Neuralink are so far ahead of what we’ve grown accustomed to that it might as well be magic. Make no mistake Neuralink is happening and it’ll be here sooner than you think…
I remember the first time I heard about Neuralink. I thought it was a joke or something far off in the future. Then I heard Elon Musk was behind it and immediately knew that this bonkers technology would be with us a lot sooner than any of us imagined.
The concept of Neuralink is simple: you have a chip implanted in your brain and with this chip, you can control things – computer games, applications, your phone, beam thoughts to other Neuralink users. Elon has even demoed the tech working inside a monkey’s head.
00:00 Introduction. 02:21 Anders Sandberg | We could be living in a superior race’s simulation. 04:16 Sabine Hossenfelder | The simulation hypothesis is pseudoscience. 06:20 Anil Seth | Is whether we are a simulation even important? 09:29 Massimo Pigliucci | The mind is too complex to be replicated. 13:14 Is it reasonable to question the existence of reality? 23:55 How do we define reality? 29:34 Are we victim to Hollywood fantasy?
Are we living in a computer simulated reality? Until recently the possibility that we are living in a computer simulation was largely limited to fans of The Matrix with an over active imagination or sci-fi fantasists. But now some are arguing that strange quirks of our universe, like the indeterminateness of quantum theory and the black hole information paradox are evidence that our reality is in actuality a created simulation. Moreover, tech guru Elon Musk has come out supporting the theory, arguing that ““we are most likely in a simulation””.
Should we take the idea that we are living in a computer simulation seriously? Groundbreaking consciousness researcher Anil Seth, stoic philosopher Massimo Pigliucci, maverick physicist and Youtube sensation Sabine Hossenfelder and Oxford transhumanist Anders Sandberg ask if we are stuck in the matrix. The debate is hosted by Güneş Taylor.
Dr. Verdin’s lab currently studies the relationship between aging and the immune system per associated defects in the adaptive immune system, and over chronic activation of the innate immune system, as well as programs on how metabolism, diet, and small molecules regulate the activity of histone deacetylases and sirtuins, and thereby the aging process and its associated diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Verdin has published more than 200 scientific papers and holds more than 15 patents. He is a highly cited scientist (top 1 percent) and has been recognized for his research with a Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging and a senior scholarship from the Ellison Medical Foundation.
Dr. Verdin is an elected member of several scientific organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. He also serves on the advisory council of National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health.
For the first time ever, Scientists working for the United States Government and Google have managed to read and understand a portion of a brain in real time. This is going to enable abilities such as reading minds and memories from humans in the future. The question is how long it will take until the government starts secret projects in that area for bad purposes.
The Human Brain Project is the biggest secret scientific research project, based on exascale supercomputers, that aims to build a collaborative ICT-based scientific research infrastructure to allow researchers across Europe and the United States Government to advance knowledge in the fields of neuroscience, computing, and brain-related medicine and in the end to create a device in the form of a brain computer interface that can record and read memories from a human brain. – Every day is a day closer to the Technological Singularity. Experience Robots learning to walk & think, humans flying to Mars and us finally merging with technology itself. And as all of that happens, we at AI News cover the absolute cutting edge best technology inventions of Humanity.
If you enjoyed this video, please consider rating this video and subscribing to our channel for more frequent uploads. Thank you! smile – TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 What has just been accomplished. 01:30 How the Brain Map was created. 03:32 The technology to enable reading the brain. 05:22 What this will do for us. 07:41 Last Words. – #bci #ai #mindreading
