8 Advancements In Brain Science Straight Out of Science Fiction
Crazy about neuroscience-related research articles? Probably not. While the work of neuroscientists is important, it isn’t typically flashy. The research tends to be obscure and tedious, and the information discovered only makes an incremental contribution to our knowledge about how the brain functions. However, occasionally, these experiments yield significant breakthroughs that resemble scenes from a science fiction film. Here are 8 recent mind-blowing discoveries in the world of neuroscience that could one day be gamechangers.
8. Recording Dreams
Who among us hasn’t wished we could record our dreams and then watch them later, like you would a movie? Researchers in Kyoto, Japan, have demonstrated that this might very well become a reality in the not-too-distant future. The experience involved three participants sleeping inside an MRI scanner so that their brain activity could be recorded. They were then awakened, and what they saw in their dreams was documented. They each did this 200 times. The second stage involved isolating the 20 most commonly “seen” objects and then having the participants look at photos of the objects, with their responses measured to establish a correlation. The photos and corresponding MRI scans were then fed into a learning algorithm. During the third and final stage, the participants slept in the MRI scanner, their brain activity was being recorded, and the smart algorithm began generating a string of images that were able to match what the participants were dreaming about 60 percent of the time. There’s obviously still a long way to go before we can sit down with a tub of popcorn and watch a video of what we dreamed about last night, but it’s nonetheless an impressive start.
7. Improved Deception
Folks, we aren’t done with the magic and wonder of tDCS quite yet. It turns out, when these treatments are used to inhibit the function of the anterior prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain responsible for deception, it has a way of making pretty convincing liars out of us. Participants of a study who received a zap were able to concoct a lie more quickly, although it had no effect on how swiftly they could answer questions truthfully. Even more interesting is that polygraph tests indicated this group was better at masking any guilt that they may have felt compared to the control group. Despite its enigmatic nature, this technology could have real-world applications, particularly for individuals such as spies, undercover police officers, or prisoners of war facing interrogation.
6. Brain Cell Transplants
A biomedical solution for increasing our intelligence isn’t as far-fetched as it seems. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center sought to determine whether injecting mice with human astrocytes, a particular type of brain cell, would make them smarter. While the mice were still developing, researchers injected them with 100,000 astrocytes, and by the time the mice turned six months old, these human brain cells had fully replaced the original brain cells they were born with. The results? The “human-brained” mice had a superior memory and were able to learn far more quickly than their control group counterparts. Sounds like it’s only a matter of time before we humans are bowing down to our hyper-intelligent mice overlords.
5. Enhancing Concentration
Completing tasks that require a great deal of time and concentration can lead to serious fatigue. But researchers may have found a hack that allows you to maintain high levels of focus, and all it requires is for your brain to be zapped! It’s actually not as horrifying as it sounds. Participants of a study who received noninvasive prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), experienced sustained periods of alertness versus those who were administered a placebo treatment. It is hoped that one day tDCS treatments can be used to help those in a line of work that requires complete mental focus for hours at a time.
4. Faster Reaction and Recall Through Music
There’s no question that music has a significant effect on our mood. A sad song makes you feel depressed, while a cheerful pop song gives you reason to hope for better days. But research by Northumbria University found that music has a positive impact on our cognitive abilities. Participants were asked to press the spacebar whenever a green square popped up on a computer screen, ignoring other colors and shapes. The participants recorded their fastest reaction times when upbeat instrumental music played in the background. Although slow music resulted in slower reaction times, it was still faster than when they listened to no music at all. A separate study found that subjects who had suffered from memory loss as a result of brain injury were able to recall events in their life after listening to music.
3. Prosthetic Brain
Over the past few decades, science has made notable advances when it comes to replacing parts of our body. People frequently use prosthetic limbs, and experts predict that “human grade” prosthetic eyes will become a reality in less than two decades. But are we ready for prosthetic brains? Not any time soon, but it’s already been shown to be theoretically possible in lab rats. In one study, scientists simulated a traumatic brain injury by cutting off communication between areas of a rat’s brain and then fitting them with a neural prosthesis. By two weeks, they had regained full brain function. It is hoped that one day this discovery will lead to the creation of brain prosthetics to help humans who are suffering from stroke or brain injury.
2. Memory Trickery
When a rat is introduced to a new sound and then receives a treat or a shock, its brain gradually conditions itself to associate that sound with reward or punishment. However, researchers at UC-Irvine bypassed this process by playing a specific tone and generating a response from it without the rats previously forming memories associated with that sound. They accomplished their goal by artificially stimulating the part of the brain that releases acetylcholine, a chemical that helps form new memories, as they played the tone. A day later, they played the tone again, and the rats were responsive even though the memories it was connected to were completely artificial. This experiment is just a small step, but one day we might be able to develop a way to acquire new knowledge on demand by merely stimulating a particular part of our brain.
1. Mind Control
Among all the studies on this list, the concept of mind control stands out as the most reminiscent of “science fiction.” What’s really wild is that we’ve already made outstanding strides. The University of Washington holds the distinction of being the first to successfully demonstrate a non-invasive, human-to-human brain interface. Their study, conducted in 2013, involved two participants situated in different parts of the campus, with one wearing a cap that converted his thoughts into electrical signals and the other wearing a cap capable of capturing those signals. The first participant was tasked with playing a computer game, using only his mind to imagine a cannon firing at various targets. The second participant had to press the keys at the right moments based on the thoughts of the first. It worked! It’s possible that in the distant future, mind control might allow anybody the ability to do complicated tasks, such as flying an airplane while receiving remote guidance from an expert. But for now, we can only dream.