Techdirt. Stories filed under "brains"

Techdirt. Stories filed under "brains" Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us Techdirt. Stories filed under "brains"http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:00:00 PDT DailyDirt: Augmenting Animals Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090510/0516184818/dailydirt-augmented-animals.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090510/0516184818/dailydirt-augmented-animals.shtml

Rats have been given an artificial sense -- the ability to detect infrared light. An IR sensor was attached to the rat's head and after a month of training, the animal could reliably sense when researchers directed otherwise invisible IR beams of light on it. [url]

Some neuroengineers have developed a fully implantable and wirelessly rechargeable brain device that could serve as a brain-computer interface. This implant has lasted for over a year in lab animals, and it can observe, record and process information directly from dozens of brain neurons. [url]

Rat brains on two separate continents have been connected to work in tandem. The researchers are already working on connecting the brains of four rats at the same time, as well as starting on brains of larger mammals.... (insert ominous music here) [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090510/0516184818 Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:00:00 PST DailyDirt: Are You Smarter Than A Dolphin? Joyce Hung http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101029/18562111656/dailydirt-are-you-smarter-than-dolphin.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101029/18562111656/dailydirt-are-you-smarter-than-dolphin.shtml very complex neocortex, the part of the brain that is responsible for traits typically associated with human intelligence, such as problem-solving and self-awareness. Researchers have even found that dolphins have von Economo neurons, which are associated with emotions, social cognition, and the ability to sense what others are thinking. Besides dolphins, people may be underestimating the intelligence of animals in general. Here are just a few links related to animal smarts.

Recently, divers off the coast of Kona in Hawaii caught video footage of a bottlenose dolphin asking a human for help to get out of a tangle of fishing lines. The dolphin swam up to one diver as he gestured with his hand for it to come closer. The diver removed a fishing hook out of the dolphin's left pectoral fin, and at one point the dolphin had to surface for air, but it went back so that the diver could finish untangling it. [url]
Dog owners can now figure out just how smart their dogs are with Dognition. It's a web app that lets dog owners record the results of their experiments, which involve playing games with their dogs designed to assess five dimensions of intelligence (empathy, communication, cunning, memory, and reasoning). The data collected from the Dognition project could help scientists better understand the way dogs think and behave. [url]
Dogs are able to subtly alter the timing, pitch, and amplitude of their barks to produce a variety of sounds that could have different meanings. While humans may have trouble distinguishing between a "food growl" and a "stranger growl," studies have shown that dogs can recognize the meaning of particular barks and growls of other dogs. [url]
Here are eight other animals that show notable signs of intelligence: Chimpanzees have DNA that is more than 98% identical to human DNA; elephants exhibit self-awareness; cephalopods are curious and have the ability to learn and use tools; crows are crafty; squirrels can be deceptive; dogs can understand people's intentions; cats are extremely adaptable; and pigs can distinguish between familiar scribbles on a screen and ones that they have never seen before. [url]

Japanese scientists have created images showing how a thought moves through the brain of a zebrafish. The brain activity doesn't look particularly complex, but it's a start -- and it could lead to a better understanding of how other brains work. [url]

Slime mold doesn't have a brain, but it can figure out complex problems -- if we give set it up under the right conditions. The slime mold Physarum polycephalum can navigate a maze and find the shortest path when given a map made of carefully-placed food. [url]

Almost anyone who has observed ants closely knows that ants can communicate via trails of chemicals (pheromones) and by touching each other -- but some ants can also communicate using sounds. Researchers have recorded some of the sounds, and they've seen ants respond to the recordings as if their fellow ants were calling to them. [url]

Studies of human brains and closely related primate brains have shown some differences that could point to specific genes responsible (or at least relevant) for the evolution of brain intelligence. Next stop, planet of the apes, folks. [url]

Software can track what you've learned by constantly quizzing you, and apparently the best time to review something you want to memorize is right before you're about to forget it. Use it or lose it... and now you can precisely quantify when you're about to lose it. [url]

Brain imaging techniques could replace IQ tests someday by predicting intelligence based on "global brain connectivity" that seems to correlate with the ability to perform challenging tasks. Taking the SAT in the future might not involve number 2 pencils, but instead a few hours in an MRI machine.... [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101108/03303411758 Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:00:00 PDT DailyDirt: Braaiiins... Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100923/04502711134/dailydirt-braaiiins.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100923/04502711134/dailydirt-braaiiins.shtml

Whole brain transplants don't seem to be a practical medical procedure (yet), but maybe brain tissue engineering could help people with brain damage with brain grafts. Restoring neural pathways would be tricky, and growing viable brain tissue isn't a walk in the park either. [url]

Dr. Robert White performed some experiments that could have been useful for doing a human brain transplant. White successfully removed a living monkey's head and attached it to another monkey's body -- and it survived for about a week. [url]

A human brain about 2,684 years old was found, preserved in a bog, in excellent condition for its age. It apparently belonged to an Iron Age man who was hanged and decapitated -- and when 2,684 years old you reach, look as good you will not. [url]

Scientists have isolated the brains of monkeys, dogs and cats -- keeping them alive for varying amounts of time without a body -- and a guinea pig brain has lasted about 8 hours in a fluid-filled tank. This is a repeatable procedure, but it apparently requires a lot of attention to keep the guinea pig brain going (and it only works for a day). [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100923/04502711134 Mon, 27 Aug 2012 23:59:00 PDT How The Press Misinterprets Scientific Studies Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120827/10532320169/how-press-misinterprets-scientific-studies.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120827/10532320169/how-press-misinterprets-scientific-studies.shtml awesome comic by Jorge Cham of PhDComics (which you should read whether or not you're a PhD student) about the science news cycle, in which a nuanced scientific result showing a slight correlation is turned into a causal relationship by the press, leading to a flat out frenzy of others in the press who don't even bother to understand what the original research was about.

Click image to see full version I'm reminded of this particular comic as the folks at On the Media point us to a story, told by Moran Cerf at The Moth (my favorite storytelling operation), about how, as a grad student, he got some research accepted for publication in Nature, the top of the top in terms of scientific journal prestige. His rather interesting research was about sticking electrodes in patients brains during brain surgery, having them think of certain things, and being able to have a projector project an image of what they were thinking. Cool, right? You can watch the video to see what happened once the press got hold of the story. In case you can't watch the video, the short version is that Cerf had put together a short video about the research, and at the very, very, very end, when talking to a colleague about how this kind of research might advance in the future, the research mentions something about studying and recording dreams. Now, nothing in the actual research is about studying or recording dreams, but... the BBC picked up on this part of the story, and then everyone picked up on this part of the story, and things only got worse from there. And no matter what Cerf did, everyone was just focused on these claims about dream recording -- even to the point that director Chris Nolan asked him to come on tour in a discussion about the movie Inception.

You can see the original Nature story here, followed by the BBC piece that focuses on dreams, even though that's not in the actual research. At least it admits that such things are far, far away. Others in the press weren't so careful. There are plenty of other such reports, but my favorite may be Metro in the UK that claims we're on the "brink" of recording people's dreams, despite that not being even close to true. For what it's worth, it appears some sources, such as Reuters did not parrot the dream recording angle, but plenty did.

It's a pretty good reminder that, especially when it comes to scientific research, you really shouldn't believe everything you read.

Oh, and as a random aside, while this story from Moran is entertaining, it does not come close in entertainment value to this other story that Cerf told at a different Moth event about his life as a bank robber. Seriously. No matter what you're doing today, find ten minutes to watch this next video:

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]]> dream-recording-machines http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20120827/10532320169 Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:00:00 PDT DailyDirt: Making Smarter Animals Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100907/23154310928/dailydirt-making-smarter-animals.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100907/23154310928/dailydirt-making-smarter-animals.shtml

Breeding smarter fruit flies doesn't sound like a good plan to create a race of super intelligent insects. Still, a decent first step has been accomplished by directing the evolution of fruit flies to exhibit the ability to count to four... [url]

Some baboons in a French laboratory have been observed to be able to tell the difference between real English words and fake words. This study probably says more about the rules of English spelling rather than evidence of baboons being linguistic geniuses. [url]

For many mammals, the ratio of brain size to body size is a fairly predictable matter, but there are some outliers with larger than expected brains for a given body size. Curiously, the smaller mammals with larger than expected brains tend to survive extinction better and adapt more easily to environmental changes -- but correlation isn't the same as causation. [url]

Older brains don't remember stuff as well as younger brains because the pathways leading to the hippocampus degrade over time. Now we just need to figure out how to rejuvenate those connections -- or grow completely new ones. [url]

The "doorway effect" is a fairly common phenomenon in which you walk into another room and then realize you've forgotten why you're there. The effect works in virtual environments as well as in real life, but don't blame the doorway -- it's more likely that your brain is pre-programmed to purge your working memory after a triggering event. [url]

Connecting our brains to computers could, if done right, extend our memories and computational abilities. Some predictions say it'll happen in about 100 years, or maybe sometime in 2100. [url]

To discover more interesting articles on the human mind, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100302/1024488362 Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:00:00 PST DailyDirt: Real Brains Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110216/23143913140/dailydirt-real-brains.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110216/23143913140/dailydirt-real-brains.shtml

More studies show that a person's IQ doesn't remain constant throughout life. It seems strange to think that IQ couldn't change a bit with age (or with training exercises), and measuring "intelligence" in the first place isn't exactly an easy task to do. [url]

A behavior therapist describes her experience training autistic kids to improve their cognitive abilities. Improve your fluid intelligence in just five easy steps! [url]

Being able to distinguish various states of consciousness could be helpful to determine if/when patients with serious brain injuries might recover. A quantitative test to complement the Coma Recovery Scale measures brain activity via EEG signals, but it needs to be used on many more subjects before it can be considered a reliable diagnostic tool. [url]

To discover more interesting articles on the human mind, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110216/23143913140 Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:00:00 PST DailyDirt: Creating Virtual And Artificial Brains Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100505/1758359314/dailydirt-creating-virtual-artificial-brains.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100505/1758359314/dailydirt-creating-virtual-artificial-brains.shtml

One *million* [/Dr. Evil voice] ARM processor cores are being hooked together to create a parallel computer called SpiNNaker that will try to simulate the human brain. Given that the human brain has about 100 billion neurons with 1,000 trillion connections between them all, this project is less than 1% of the way towards a full brain simulation. [url]

Growing a brain in a petri dish from rat neurons might be an interesting approach to building a brain de novo. So far, researchers have created a network of about 60 rat neurons which seem to be able to sustain activity for about 12 seconds. [url]

Folks from IBM are working on cognitive computing like the Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project with some DARPA funding to re-create a billion artificial neurons. Trying to beat the power efficiency of the human brain isn't an easy task. [url]

To discover more interesting bot-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100505/1758359314 Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:00:00 PDT DailyDirt: You Must Un-Learn What You Have Learned... Really? Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101209/09013412206/dailydirt-you-must-un-learn-what-you-have-learned-really.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101209/09013412206/dailydirt-you-must-un-learn-what-you-have-learned-really.shtml improve the institutions of education in various ways. Creating an education system in the US seemingly costs a lot, and the results aren't as tangible (or as favorable) as everyone would like it to be. But in order to improve, perhaps we need a closer look at what actually needs to improve. Here are just a few links on how we learn.

Using an EEG to study how people's brains react to making mistakes could help how to teach kids better or to identify why some kids are having a harder time. Giving an "A for effort" looks like it's a lot more effective than telling students they're smart. [url]
The literacy program, Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS), is freely available from a non-profit organization to help improve reading skills for elementary school students. If it doesn't actually work, at least it's cost effective.... [url]
Psychologists are studying whether or not some students are visual learners or auditory learners. So far, there's no evidence to suggest that there are significantly different learning styles, but that mixing things up does keep student attention better. [url]
To discover more interesting education-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101209/09013412206 Tue, 9 Aug 2011 17:00:00 PDT DailyDirt: Braiiins... Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100418/2324339056/dailydirt-braiiins.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100418/2324339056/dailydirt-braiiins.shtml

UCSD researchers have studied the Uncanny Valley to find that human brains like it when their expectations are met -- human-like movements should be accompanied by humans. Conversely, brains don't like to be fooled. [url]

Using electroencephalography (EEG), there might be a way to predict the development of autism before the age of three. Earlier diagnoses could then lead to more effective treatments... [url]

To learn about consciousness, it might be helpful to figure out how the brain goes into un-consciousness. Just stick about 32 electrodes on a bunch of people's heads, give them all some anesthetics, and watch their brain activity for patterns. Lather. Repeat. [url]

An fMRI brain scanner that can read people's intentions sounds like an awesome tool. Rock Paper Scissors will never be the same. [url]

To discover more interesting articles on the human mind, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100418/2324339056 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:59:00 PDT No, Google Is Not Rewiring How We Remember Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110718/00270215121/no-google-is-not-rewiring-how-we-remember.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110718/00270215121/no-google-is-not-rewiring-how-we-remember.shtml Google is rewiring how we remember. It sounds good, but it's not really what the study appears to be saying. Basically, the study is saying that we just don't work as hard at remembering stuff we know we can access again easily. But I don't see that as rewiring. I think that's always been true. It's the same thing as people not remembering their multiplication tables as carefully, because they know they have a calculator. If anything, it just seems like an efficient use of your brain. The report also notes that people have an easier time remembering where to find certain info than they do remembering the info itself. But, again, that's just our brains being efficient. So I don't see how that's rewiring anything. It's just a recognition that, thanks to the internet and other technologies, we can have near ubiquitous access to certain kinds of info, and we function better by remembering how to find it, rather than the info itself. In fact, we've discussed this before, about how people quite reasonably use things like Google as their backup brain and how that actually has some benefits.

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]]> let-it-go http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110718/00270215121 Mon, 6 Jun 2011 17:00:00 PDT DailyDirt: Studying Gray Matter Before We Hack It... Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110504/13480514145/dailydirt-studying-gray-matter-before-we-hack-it.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110504/13480514145/dailydirt-studying-gray-matter-before-we-hack-it.shtml

Australian researchers think that genes may explain how 'cost-efficient' our brains are -- and ultimately how genes affect cognitive abilities. Hopefully, no one finds and patents the 'genius' genes... [url]

The iBrain is not a new product from Apple -- it's a nifty device that records data from your brain in order to diagnose various neurological disorders. Once it's collected enough data, though, maybe it'll help in figuring out how regular brains work, too. [url]

Sleep deprivation has been demonstrated to reduce a mouse's ability to retain memories. So try to get a good night's sleep before making any best-laid plans with mice. [url]

To discover more interesting articles on the human mind, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110504/13480514145 Thu, 19 May 2011 03:53:07 PDT Well Done: CDC Warns Of The Zombie Apocalypse Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110519/02073714336/well-done-cdc-warns-zombie-apocalypse.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110519/02073714336/well-done-cdc-warns-zombie-apocalypse.shtml how to prepare for (and hopefully survive) the Zombie Apocalypse:

There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for. Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That’s right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency.

And, from there it goes into general disaster preparedness, at times relating it back to the impending zombie invasion. We do plenty of complaining about bad government actions around here, but I say kudos for not releasing just a totally bland (it does get a bit dry in the middle) disaster preparedness blog post, but instead, for coming up with a good way to get the info out there that might actually spread (in a good way...).

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]]> brains http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110519/02073714336 Mon, 16 May 2011 17:00:00 PDT DailyDirt: Brains Are Like Cracked Eggs On A Hot Skillet? Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110110/11142812590/dailydirt-brains-are-like-cracked-eggs-hot-skillet.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110110/11142812590/dailydirt-brains-are-like-cracked-eggs-hot-skillet.shtml

Just about everyone suffers from several common cognitive errors... And now you know, and knowing is half the battle. [url]

Researchers can mess with the memories of rats -- making memories fade faster or last longer. But injecting a memory-enhancing virus into a human brain doesn't sound too appealing. [url]

Researchers in Germany have found a single "giant" neuron in the brain of locusts that seems to collect all olfactory input -- a discovery that could lead to a better understanding of how biological neural nets work. Mammal brains could possibly have similar neural structures, but there's obviously a big difference between the brains of insects and mammals... [url]

To discover more interesting articles on the human mind, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110110/11142812590 Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:54:00 PST Studying Violent Video Games Causes Unnecessary Extrapolations! News At Eleven! Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071227/013529.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071227/013529.shtml debunked. What the studies actually tend to show is that while playing violent video games your brain acts emotional and may get desensitized to the violence being witnessed -- but that makes total sense. You should actually be surprised if playing a game didn't get you emotionally invested in the game and seeing the same thing over and over again didn't shock you as much as the first time. What none of the studies actually shows, however, is that playing these games later leads to violent activity. In fact, the ongoing decrease in violence just as these games have become increasingly popular certainly hints that they're not a major cause of violent activity (this is further supported by a study showing that violent movies seem to decrease incidents of violence). However, that doesn't stop researchers and the press from extrapolating their findings out to conclude that violent video games must lead to violence, despite the lack of proof.

The latest is some new research out of Taiwan, found via the Raw Feed, suggesting that playing violent video games decreases the flow of blood to your brain. There could be any number of biological reasons for this, but it doesn't stop the researchers from claiming that those playing these violent video games may "risk damaging brain function and affect their learning and emotional control." Again, that sounds like quite an extrapolation from just looking at the rate of blood flow to the brain -- and luckily people are already questioning the results of the study.

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]]> sigh http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20071227/013529 Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:16:34 PST Google's PageRank Works Like Our Brains Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071209/185200.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071209/185200.shtml a secondary or "backup" brain for many people. However, perhaps it wasn't so much of a joke. New research on how human memory and recall works suggests that the process is quite similar to Google's PageRank in determining what things are more important and should be recalled first. Basically, Google's PageRank looks at "popularity," not just in terms of how many links a site gets, but also in terms of how popular those links are. Thus, if you get linked from a more popular site, that's more valuable than getting linked by a bunch of non-popular sites. It turns out that the brain does something similar in linking concepts, judging not just the popularity, but the popularity of the concepts linked to the concepts. In fact, using Google's PageRank turned out to be a better predictor of how a brain would prioritize words than more commonly known methods.

This could be an interesting finding for the artificial intelligence community. After all, many in the AI community have been trying to figure out how to make computers act more like human brains for years, and various brute force methods haven't worked all that well. Obviously, the AI world has worked on various neural net research for quite some time, but it's nice to see at least some confirmation from the psychology side concerning a way to match up brains and algorithms. A couple years ago, we noted that intelligence was often correlated to people who knew what to forget rather than trying to remember everything. What that really shows is that good brains are better at prioritizing and ranking the importance of something -- and that's exactly what PageRank is intended to do. So, now, we just need Larry Page to get back from his honeymoon and get to work on BrainRank. Or would that be PageBrain? Of course, it's also worth noting that with the rise of search engine spamming, rumor has it that Google doesn't use PageRank that much any more. Perhaps that just means that our brains are vulnerable to concept spamming as well...

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]]> what's-your-brainrank? http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20071209/185200