Mind-Reading Scanner Could Record and Analyze Dreams, Says Brain Researcher
Dreams and our remembrance of such are still a concept widely discussed in the fields of both neurology and psychology. In order to more accurately research the phenomenon of brain activity during sleep cycles, Dr. Moran Cerf is attempting to build a database based upon which an individual's recollection of their dream and the corresponding neurons in the brain that fire when the individual's memory is recounted can be analyzed in a cohesive manner. In this way, patients who recount their dreams during therapy can be followed by their specific portion of Cerf's database created by the patient themselves that ties present thoughts to the internalized neurons that are firing at the moment.
Though the research done by Cerf is limited to only a singular thought or idea and the corresponding neurons mapped electronically in the brain, this study has the potential to evolve into something much more. Over time, we may see the possibility of entire dreams being mapped electronically into a free-flowing visualization. Or possibly, in respect to more therapeutic means, this system may be able to identify what an incommunicative person is thinking and allow a simple input-output system to communicate with them. In a sense, this means that thought-controlled machines could be a very real possibility in the future. For now, Cerf and his colleagues are working on identifying what an individual is dreaming of based upon the different areas of the brain that respond during a sleep cycle. This is being done exclusively with patients with electrodes already inside their brains to treat them for seizures, but understanding neuron-thought correspondence is the first step in a promising future in neurological health and medicine.
I found this article to be very interesting as it pertains primarily to a hybridized system between computer integration and neurological input/output. In understanding what portions of the brain are associated with simple thoughts, complexities can be deciphered and eventually unified into a cohesive unit that demonstrates a train of progressive thoughts and ideas. Therapeutically, advances in this area may lead to devices which may help those that cannot speak or communicate effectively lead more normal and functioning lives. Through simple steps in sleep studies, the neurological network of thought and action can be created to delve deeper into the realms of the mind which may be consciously or subconsciously controlled. As I am interested primarily in neurological studies, this article provides a foundation of future research in a rapidly growing subsection of neurology which may lead to countless innovations in the near future.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-10/mind-reading-dream-recorder-could-lend-insights-brain-function-even-if-it-doesnt-record-dreams
Clay Dillow- 10/27/10
~Andrew Wagner VTPP 434-502
Though the research done by Cerf is limited to only a singular thought or idea and the corresponding neurons mapped electronically in the brain, this study has the potential to evolve into something much more. Over time, we may see the possibility of entire dreams being mapped electronically into a free-flowing visualization. Or possibly, in respect to more therapeutic means, this system may be able to identify what an incommunicative person is thinking and allow a simple input-output system to communicate with them. In a sense, this means that thought-controlled machines could be a very real possibility in the future. For now, Cerf and his colleagues are working on identifying what an individual is dreaming of based upon the different areas of the brain that respond during a sleep cycle. This is being done exclusively with patients with electrodes already inside their brains to treat them for seizures, but understanding neuron-thought correspondence is the first step in a promising future in neurological health and medicine.
I found this article to be very interesting as it pertains primarily to a hybridized system between computer integration and neurological input/output. In understanding what portions of the brain are associated with simple thoughts, complexities can be deciphered and eventually unified into a cohesive unit that demonstrates a train of progressive thoughts and ideas. Therapeutically, advances in this area may lead to devices which may help those that cannot speak or communicate effectively lead more normal and functioning lives. Through simple steps in sleep studies, the neurological network of thought and action can be created to delve deeper into the realms of the mind which may be consciously or subconsciously controlled. As I am interested primarily in neurological studies, this article provides a foundation of future research in a rapidly growing subsection of neurology which may lead to countless innovations in the near future.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-10/mind-reading-dream-recorder-could-lend-insights-brain-function-even-if-it-doesnt-record-dreams
Clay Dillow- 10/27/10
~Andrew Wagner VTPP 434-502
posted by Andrew Wagner at 11:39 AM
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