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Matrix-style instant learning could be one step closer
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NSA TORTURE TECHNOLOGY, NEWS and RESEARCH
Jan 18, 2012, 5:49:49 AM1/18/12
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http://www.gizmag.com/decnef-fmri-visual-learning/20857/
Matrix-style instant learning could be one step closer
By Ben Coxworth
20:07 December 14, 2011
How would you like to have the ability to play the piano downloaded into your brain? You
might not end up with the same sense of achievement, but it sure would be a lot quicker
and easier than years of lessons and practicing. Well, we're not there yet (and perhaps we
never should be), but that sort of scenario is now a little closer to reality, thanks to
research conducted at Boston University and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in
Kyoto, Japan.
The basic idea is this: using a technique known as decoded neurofeedback, or DecNef,
people could be trained to alter their brain activity, so that it matched that of someone
already possessing a certain skill.
Scientists at the two institutions used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to
observe the visual cortex activity pattern of test subjects as they viewed striped circles
placed in various orientations. The researchers then used DecNef to train the subjects to
change their brain pattern, so that it more closely resembled a predetermined target
pattern. This was done by presenting them with an image of a green circle, which got
larger the closer they got to achieving the target pattern.
It was found that once subjects had matched that pattern repeatedly, their performance at
a given visual task (discriminating between different orientations of the striped circles)
improved, and stayed that way for some time. This approach even worked when the subjects
weren't aware of what the visual task was that they were being trained for.
While the instant acquisition of complex skills, such as flying a helicopter as seen in
The Matrix, might not be possible any time soon, the researchers believe that DecNef might
also have therapeutic value, as people with mental disorders could be trained to match the
brain activity patterns of healthy individuals.
Matrix-style instant learning could be one step closer
By Ben Coxworth
20:07 December 14, 2011
How would you like to have the ability to play the piano downloaded into your brain? You
might not end up with the same sense of achievement, but it sure would be a lot quicker
and easier than years of lessons and practicing. Well, we're not there yet (and perhaps we
never should be), but that sort of scenario is now a little closer to reality, thanks to
research conducted at Boston University and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in
Kyoto, Japan.
The basic idea is this: using a technique known as decoded neurofeedback, or DecNef,
people could be trained to alter their brain activity, so that it matched that of someone
already possessing a certain skill.
Scientists at the two institutions used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to
observe the visual cortex activity pattern of test subjects as they viewed striped circles
placed in various orientations. The researchers then used DecNef to train the subjects to
change their brain pattern, so that it more closely resembled a predetermined target
pattern. This was done by presenting them with an image of a green circle, which got
larger the closer they got to achieving the target pattern.
It was found that once subjects had matched that pattern repeatedly, their performance at
a given visual task (discriminating between different orientations of the striped circles)
improved, and stayed that way for some time. This approach even worked when the subjects
weren't aware of what the visual task was that they were being trained for.
While the instant acquisition of complex skills, such as flying a helicopter as seen in
The Matrix, might not be possible any time soon, the researchers believe that DecNef might
also have therapeutic value, as people with mental disorders could be trained to match the
brain activity patterns of healthy individuals.
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