Hardware Implants Mimic Brain Cells 230
An anonymous reader writes "PopSci is reporting that Ted Berger, a USC scientist, has been working to engineer a brain implant the mimics the functions of neurons. Early tests on rat brain cells have shown promise, and if successful, Berger's implant could remedy everything from Alzheimer's to absent-mindedness — and reduce memory loss to nothing more than a computer glitch"
Had to be done (Score:5, Funny)
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There is a treatment for Essential Tremor that involves electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus. You can only treat one side of an individual else they may lose the ability to speak. While I would hope this would improve treatment options (seeing as I have a moderate case), I would be fearful of the cpu latching up in some way or another.
-nB
Java? (Score:4, Funny)
1.4? 1.5? Colombian?
Re:Java? (Score:5, Interesting)
This technology appears to be mainly about routing signals, not generating or processing them. It assists with memory by properly storing and retrieving those signals, but it does not interpret them. (As evidenced by his comment, "I don't need to understand music to repair a CD Player.")
The article is correct, however, in that this technology will bring us one step closer to understanding how the brain functions. Since these neurons are artificial, the signals passing through can be sampled and stored on an external device. This would allow researchers to reverse engineer many signals in parallel rather than trying to trace one or two signals through the brain as they've been doing.
Unfortunately, I doubt this technology will outright unlock the secrets of conciousness. Remember how neural networks were intended to be an invaluable research tool into self-awareness? Well, the resulting networks ended up working in a similar but fundamentally different way from the organic brain. That fundamental difference prevented the networks from fully simulating the human brain.
So we'll take the next step forward, and learn where our previous mistakes were. Not to mention, uncover thousands of new questions.
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Time to recycle the MS-Borg icon (Score:5, Interesting)
Is "PopSci" the old Popular Science mag? (Score:4, Insightful)
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unless you are testifying to congress... (Score:2)
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Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail? f
C:\>
I'm sorry, Senator, I seem to have developed some bad sectors.
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Windows (Score:2)
Engineered humans? (Score:5, Insightful)
I am torn over this idea because clearly it represents a potential major advance in science and a cure to several insidious, incurable (as of today) diseases. We could probably extend the life expectancy of humans by a decade or so.
However, it also presents some less optimistic possibilities: for example, someone might be able to "program" humans as we program computers today. Imagine some terror organization such as Al Qaeda creating a fearless, seven-foot, feel-no-pain specimen....
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Well, I hope that they do leave the pain part out. Otherwise there will be a bunch of robots running around screaming:
'Why was I programmed to feel pain!'
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Without a pain analog, you get robots that are unable to respond to damage that they did not detect with whatever other senses they have available.
i.e. Just because you didn't feel yourself get shot in the back, doesn't mean it didn't happen.
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Or imagine someone local and maybe you know creating a device that takes you out and then they rob you or even better cause the chip to kill you.
Re:Engineered humans? (Score:5, Interesting)
Dr Korby? (Score:2)
Is that you?
What Are Little Girls Made Of? [memory-alpha.org]
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Sounds very philosophical, but it isn't really... it's a language question: what do you define the word "you" to mean?
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Postmodernism aside, it is an interesting question.
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You've duplicated the information-crunching aspect of a neuron. Ok, fair enough.
Now how in god's name does the subjective perceptual conscious experience arise out of that? You didn't simulate that whatsoever.
Searle pointed out that, since consciousness is a physical phenomena, it must arise out in the real world somehow. But merely duplicating the information pushing (probably) isn't enough. It can't just arise out o
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That's why we must immediately start creating patriotic, eight-foot, feel-no-pain fighters !
Same as it ever was (Score:2)
Minds have to write themselves [ed.ac.uk], or they don't work.
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Unfortunately Al Qaeda didn't need this kind of technology in order to "program" their followers, they did a horribly effective job using traditional methods.
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However, it also presents some less optimistic possibilities: for example, someone might be able to "program" humans as we program computers today. Imagine some terror organization such as Al Qaeda creating a fearless, seven-foot, feel-no-pain specimen....
Heh, the same type of organization that has cost-effective suicide bombers as it's backbone? To be sure, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see 'cyberbrain hacking' a la Ghost in the Shell within my lifetime, but the idea of some terrorist group with 1/100,000th the budget of their enemies making an army of invincible nuclear mutants is just laughable. Besides, it's already possible to 'program' humans to a degree; parents and religions (among others) have been doing it for most of our history.
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Not with the current architecture. The easiest* way to program a neural network is trough experience, what we already do and are (mostly) able to perceive.
Now, future architectures may be succeptible to that... We'll have quite a new use for firewalls then.
*By 'easiest' I mean the only way that doesn't need a cumputer several orders of magnitude faster tha
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We already have this. It's called "religion," "nationalism," or "racism," depending on the form.
Note: If this seems offensive to you, and you have no doubts (faith) that your religion is the the one true religion, and your country is the best, surely you must admit that those other people over there have been "programmed" into falsely thinking that their religion
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That aside, I suspect it w
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Its like buying a Mercedes to go to the demolition derby, it just doesn't make sense.
I was thinking more of a hacking expedition myself. Hijack someone through their hardware, program them to do what you want (which may not be what they want) and you don't need to use the prospect of 70 virgins in the afterlife for people to do your dirty work. Just a few hours of downtime with the right person...
And here's [webscription.net] a book that starts on that premise.
"programming" humans (Score:2)
Its much easier and effective to just brainwash or blackmail someone into doing your bidding.
Let's do it RIGHT this time! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Let's do it RIGHT this time! (Score:5, Funny)
Or do American Idol and Survivor do that to everybody?
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(they still on the air even? I remember watching survivor but man it was a long time ago (first season))
-nB
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I get no reception where I'm at and I'd rather throw my money at DSL over Sat TV or Cable (both of which cost more if you want data).
You know..... (Score:5, Funny)
Is absent mindedness something you can "cure" (Score:5, Insightful)
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Really, someone with ADD is just someone normal, whom's "Uniqueness" (for lack of better word) is incompatible with sociaty as it is now. The drugs and stuff can be useful, but only in extreme scenarios (in
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If your absentmindedness can be compensated for by checking several times if you locked the door, turned the water off, etc, it's not a big deal. If you are driving, go to change the radio station and get so ca
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refuse to take personality altering drugs
Before I started therapy (for the usual bitterness / depression that afflicts folks like us), my wife actually said "I hope this doesn't change your personality." I reminded her "that's kind of the whole point."
Drugs (for ADD and depression) and therapy have in fact altered my personality. Most importantly, into an employable one. It's now been over 2 years since I berated anyone at work for being dedicated ("dude, do you really think doing the deathmarch thing to get this out on time is going to save y
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Your memories define who you are. Every time you make a choice, you change who you are. Personally, I will always chose to improve myself, rather than stagnate. Perhaps, as technology provides us with more options for self-improvement, the human race will diverge. People with your philosophy toward "self" would eventually die off, or live only at the mercy of the
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See my sig. It is a reference to a conversation between the Puppet Master AI program and Major Kusanagi (the female Ghost in the Shell cyborg)
Simply accepting and desiring to remain the same is what truly limits us.
Whether this is being trying to educate yourself so you are not illiterate or exercising so you are not out of shape. If we are afraid to improve, then we'll never be more than our limits
Raises some interesting questions (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Raises some interesting questions (Score:5, Interesting)
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I believe a slow, incremental transfer would preserve the essence of "self". It's not where the instructions are being executed, it's what they're doing.
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Great mambo Chicken (Score:2)
At what point are you more machine than person?
Re:Great mambo Chicken (Score:5, Funny)
Well, if Obi-Wan is any authority on this, I guess it's when you have both arms and legs cut off and you can't live without a breath mask and respirator.
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Bender Quote on Considering Move. (Score:2)
I can have dead brain cells repaired? (Score:3, Funny)
At what point do we cease being human? (Score:3, Interesting)
it depends... (Score:2)
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If you would be that with artificial neurons, why are you anything else with natural ones?
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Is there really a difference? Our brains are incredibly complicated, but just because they are biological doesn't mean they're not just computing devices. It may be unsettling to some to believe, but this idea of 'free will,' that we're in control of our minds and can freely choose to do whatever we want is an illusion created by the very brain that tells us w
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I'm not exactly sure what people mean by free will in any case, but I think "incredibly complicated" is a key part. Supposing one could transcend to a point where you are aware of and can track every variable in the universe, it would be a simple thing to go on and say, "Hah! I knew that wou
Playing the Alzheimers card to get funding? (Score:5, Interesting)
As I understand it Alzheimers is basically a case of protein misfolding creating amyloid plaques on the neurons and that really screws up the functions (perhaps some with actual medical/biological knowledge can expand on that). Anyway, it's not just one part that you can hot-swap to use a computer term... it's happening all over the affected area. So you're not going to just plop in a new frontal lobe and call that a cure are you?
And yet the researcher goes on and makes a big point of this: I do belive that this technology could have many many wonderful uses but that Alzheimers isn't one of them... and by using on of the scariest biggest diseases just to flag down some interest he's doing not only himself but the whole research area a disfavour.
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immortality and identity (Score:2)
And is it still you? Or a copy of you running on the artificial brain? If it is a copy, when does it cease to be you?
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As to whether it's still "you"... well that depends on whether your definition of the word "you" (or "me") includes the original brain... if it does, then it breaks the definition and so is no longer you, and if it doesn't, then the definition isn't broken so it is still you.
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The beauty is that we don't even have to understand how it all works. We don't have to program the "virtual brain" at all. It works simply because the original configuration works. Hell, at that point, we can start
If they can act like neurons.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Instead of the computer being an active part of the brain, it becomes more like a PDA that you don't have to carry. Motor feedback signals, generated from the neurons would then become something like morse code.
Would be damn nice to be in a job interview, using Google in real time, while answering the questions with ordinary speech!
Obligatory Johnny Mnemonic reference (Score:2)
I'm wet-wired for 80 gigs.
I'm tired of /., Cowboy Neal and all...this! *I want ROOM SERVICE*! I want the club sandwich, I want the cold Mexican beer, I want a $10,000-a-night hooker! I want my shirts laundered... like they do... at the Imperial Hotel... in Tokyo.
Interesting Timing (Score:5, Insightful)
Oddly enough, the people mentioned in Hacking Our Five Senses (Apr-03-2007) [slashdot.org] are using similarly arbitrary but mechanical means to also send signals to the brain (admitedly using existing pathways).
Would it be possible to combine these two techniques, as well as a few miniturization techniques (and perhaps standard "ports") to enable people to not just replace storage capacity but indeed "add" senses?
Instead of using a belt to buzz "north", use implants to send one of a set of predetermined signals. It won't matter what the signals would originally mean (if anything) - because if Hacking Our Five Senses is any indication, the brain is capable of creating maps for the the new signals anyway.
Borg indeed.
Artificial brains? (Score:2)
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Groundwork for a "backup"? (Score:2)
Neuromancer here I come! (Score:2)
so, in the future when you divide by zero (Score:2)
"eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."
RS
Here's the question... (Score:2)
"and reduce memory loss to nothing more than a computer glitch"
What type of computer running what interface would our brains mimic? Can I get an MS Bob style implant? Or how about a WinME one?
How well do they mimic? (Score:2)
nothing more than a computer glitch (Score:2)
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I'd call that a feature (Score:2)
Wouldn't it be really a feature if you could simply eliminate that picture from your memory with but a click?
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Namely the thousands and thousands of people out there with crippling post-traumatic stress disorder. The ability to alter those memories, or turn down the emotionality component of them, would be very welcome for some.
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