Buzz
Neuroscience isn’t something most people dwell on daily. The field’s research is often dense and obscure, with scientists tirelessly working to incrementally enhance our understanding of the brain and nervous system.
However, sometimes their findings align more with the realm of science fiction than reality. Here are a few of those jaw-dropping discoveries.
10. Engineering Artificial Memories
Can a completely fabricated memory be implanted into the brain, indistinguishable from a genuine recollection? The answer is yes—if you're part of the research team at UC Irvine.
In an experiment involving rats, researchers successfully implanted specific, targeted memories into the rodents' brains. They paired a particular tone with the release of acetylcholine—a chemical vital for forming new memories.
What was the outcome? The rats exhibited the anticipated response to the tone when tested the following day. These artificial memories appeared to share all the qualities of naturally occurring ones. Moreover, the new memories persisted over time, demonstrating that memories can be permanently altered under controlled conditions.
The researchers believe these results could eventually aid individuals with memory or learning challenges, potentially by using similar accelerated techniques to implant new memories. While we're still far from achieving the kind of instant learning seen in The Matrix, it’s a tantalizing possibility for the future.
And speaking of dreams…
9. Controlling Dreams
Dreams are deeply personal experiences, shaped by your recent emotions, thoughts, and events. Each person’s dreams are unique, making it impossible to force someone to dream something specific.
Or is it possible?
At MIT, scientists achieved exactly that. They first trained rats to navigate a maze by associating two distinct audio cues with different directions to find treats. One sound signaled a left turn, while the other indicated a right turn. The rats quickly learned the meanings of these tones and responded accordingly. Researchers then tracked the changes in their brain activity as they navigated the maze using these cues.
Next, the researchers decided to experiment with the rats' dreams. While the rats slept, their brain activity was monitored, confirming that they were dreaming about running through the maze. To influence these dreams, the researchers played the same tones used during the maze training.
Interestingly, brain scans revealed that while the rats were dreaming, they responded to the audio cues just as they had while awake. This experiment demonstrates that dreams can be directly influenced by external stimuli. The researchers even theorize that one day, people could have personalized dreams through “dream engineering.”
8. Capturing Dreams
Imagine being able to record your dreams, watching them later as you would a film. It might sound far-fetched, but research suggests this could become a reality. A study conducted by scientists in Kyoto, Japan, showed that brain scans could eventually be used to reconstruct people's dreams in real-time.
The first phase of the study involved participants sleeping inside an MRI scanner while their brain activity was monitored. Afterward, they were awakened and asked to describe their dreams. This process was repeated around 200 times for each of the three participants.
In the next phase, researchers identified the 20 most frequently appearing objects in the dreams and found photos that represented them. They then showed these images to the participants and measured their brain responses to create a connection. Finally, the photos and corresponding MRI scans were fed into a machine learning algorithm.
Eventually, the three participants were invited back to sleep inside the MRI scanner once more. During this time, the sophisticated algorithm generated sequences of images based on the subjects' brain activity. Once they woke up, the participants were asked about their dreams. The algorithm succeeded in matching the dreams with roughly 60 percent accuracy.
Though far from flawless, this marks a significant milestone toward the potential of actually recording dreams. We already know that it's possible to create rudimentary, yet surprisingly advanced visual representations of our brain activity. Given this study from Japan, it may only be a matter of time before we can do the same for our dreams.
7. Brain Cell Transplants
Could brain transplants be used to improve brain performance? To explore this, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center created human chimeric mice. While the term sounds a bit sinister, it simply means the mice were injected with human astrocytes—a specific type of brain cells. These mice received 100,000 human astrocytes during their developmental stages.
In an astonishing result, by the time the mice reached six months of age, the human cells had virtually completely replaced their equivalent mouse brain cells. The researchers then put the mice through several tests to assess their memory and learning capacities. These 'smarter' mice outperformed the control group by a significant margin, showing a faster ability to learn and recall information.
Neuroscientist Bruce Ransom recognized the importance of this research, remarking, 'It’s a stunning result. It provides the first unequivocal evidence that astrocytes may well have been one of the evolutionary drivers of human capabilities.' Strangely, that statement is notably lacking in any discussion about the potential dangers of creating hyper-intelligent rodents.
6. Enhancing Vigilance
We’ve all experienced moments that demand intense concentration—whether it’s final exams, filing taxes, or binge-watching a Lord of the Rings marathon. Eventually, we all tire and find it harder to focus. But what if there was a way to stay alert during these tasks?
There is, and it involves applying a controlled electrical current to your brain. A study tested participants on various alertness tasks. Some participants received noninvasive brain stimulation, specifically 'prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation' (tDCS), while others were given a placebo. Ultimately, those who received tDCS demonstrated improved focus and maintained a higher level of alertness for longer periods.
The study shows that targeted brain stimulation can enhance our ability to utilize the brain's underused resources, making individuals more vigilant. Researchers suggest this approach could be particularly beneficial for workers who need to maintain attention over extended periods.
5. Enhancing Our Lying Abilities
Not all tDCS applications are beneficial. Some uses of noninvasive brain stimulation are directed toward a less ethical goal: making us more convincing liars.
In one study, 44 volunteers were asked to role-play as thieves. They had to pretend to steal money, after which they were interrogated about their supposed crimes. This interrogation was done using the 'Guilty Knowledge Test,' a variant of the polygraph test.
By applying tDCS to suppress the activity of the anterior prefrontal cortex—the area of the brain responsible for deception—scientists achieved notable improvements in the participants' ability to lie. Those receiving brain stimulation were faster at inventing lies, though their response time when telling the truth remained unchanged. Even more intriguingly, these participants reported feeling less guilt about lying compared to the control group.
This suggests that it might be possible to enhance someone's ability to lie at will, if the need arises. Consider the various professionals who could greatly benefit from such a skill: spies, undercover police officers, soldiers held captive, and politicians during election campaigns.
4. Music for Cognitive Enhancement
It’s widely acknowledged that music can have a significant impact on our mood and how we perceive the world. Many of us can recall a time when a melancholic tune made us feel down, or conversely, an energetic beat that made us want to dance and smile.
It turns out that it’s not just our emotions that can be influenced by music. Our cognitive abilities can also be enhanced by listening to certain musical compositions. In a study conducted by Northumbria University in the UK, participants took a test measuring mental focus. They had to watch a computer screen for a green square to appear, pressing the spacebar when it did, while disregarding other shapes and colors.
Some participants completed the test in silence, while others listened to various movements from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons concertos. The energetic “Spring” movement led to the quickest average response time of 393.8 milliseconds, while the slower “Autumn” movement increased response time to 413.3 milliseconds. Those in the no-music group had an average response time of 408.1 milliseconds.
Another experiment found that music can help individuals retrieve autobiographical memories after experiencing an “acquired brain injury.” This suggests that carefully selected music can significantly enhance cognitive abilities, attention, and memory.
3. The Possibility of Mind Control
Although the above studies are intriguing, none of them come as close to the world of science fiction as mind control—a concept explored in countless movies and novels. While true mind control is still not a reality, several recent studies have produced some truly remarkable findings.
In a groundbreaking study by Harvard Medical School, humans were able to control the movements of a rat's tail simply by thinking. Participants wore a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) device that converted their thoughts into commands, while the rats wore a computer-to-brain interface that used focused ultrasound to stimulate their brains.
This resulted in a brain-to-brain link between the humans and rats, allowing the humans to control the rats' tails remotely. The experiment achieved an impressive 94 percent success rate across six humans and six rats. Remarkably, this brain-to-brain connection was noninvasive, requiring no complicated surgery.
If you find that intriguing, a recent study at the University of Washington takes things a step further. This study also involved brain-to-brain communication, but with one major twist: Both participants were human.
Two researchers were stationed on opposite ends of the university campus. One wore a cap that transformed his thoughts into electrical signals, while the other wore a cap that received magnetic signals from the brain. The first researcher had to play a video game, aiming a cannon at various targets, but with a challenge: he could not use his hands. Instead, he had to mentally visualize firing the cannon, which made his colleague perform the key presses at the correct moments.
The experiment was successful. While researchers caution that the setup was basic, they believe it marks an important initial step toward more sophisticated applications. In the future, we could see many practical uses of direct mind control, from enabling better communication for those with disabilities to remotely assisting in tasks like landing an aircraft.
For now, that's merely conjecture. However, one thing is undeniably clear: Neuroscience is a rapidly advancing field with exciting future breakthroughs on the horizon for us all.
2. Brain Hacking: Accessing Private Information
We all know that our digital devices are vulnerable to hacking. Skilled hackers can easily access your credit card details and PIN codes, especially if your passwords are as simple as “password.” The best defense would be to store sensitive information in the ultimate secure location—your brain. Surely, this makes your data invulnerable, right?
Not exactly. At the 2012 USENIX Security Conference, researchers showed how information can be extracted more easily using basic, off-the-shelf equipment. They used a fairly inexpensive, commercially available brain-computer interface (BCI) along with their own mind-reading software. Participants were analyzed without knowing that their brains were being “hacked” during the experiment.
By analyzing the electroencephalography (EEG) signals generated by the subjects' brains, researchers were able to demonstrate that access to private information—such as PIN codes and credit card details—can be made significantly easier using consumer-grade BCI devices. While it doesn’t make this information fully accessible, using a BCI reduces the entropy of the private data by around 15 to 40 percent when compared to random guessing attempts.
1. The Prosthetic Brain
Science has made tremendous progress in finding ways to replace many parts of the human body. We now have prosthetic arms, legs, and we seem to be on the cusp of developing prosthetic eyes. However, the brain is far more intricate than any limb. Creating a prosthetic brain is no easy feat, and we are still far from achieving fully functional brain replacements. Despite this, there are major advancements in the development of “neural prostheses” that have shown promise in restoring brain function after traumatic injuries.
In a proof-of-concept experiment, scientists simulated a traumatic brain injury by severing communication between two areas of a rat’s brain. The 16 rats involved in the study lost almost all movement in their forelimbs. Some rats received no treatment, others were given a device that stimulated different brain areas randomly, while a third group of rats was fitted with a neural prosthesis that restored communication by bridging the two disconnected brain regions.
The results were impressive. After two weeks, the group with the neural prosthesis had regained such a degree of brain function that their movements were indistinguishable from their behavior prior to the brain injury. The implanted brain-machine-brain interface effectively restored communication between the two previously disconnected brain regions. Researchers are hopeful that this study will pave the way for similar prostheses that could help treat brain injuries and stroke trauma in humans. These types of injuries currently affect nearly three million people in the United States alone.
