I’ve long been fascinated with synesthesia, a condition in which”the real information of one sense is accompanied by a perception of another sense.” Humans have reported the ability to perceive sounds as having certain colors (sometimes even the ability to “see” music) or “taste” certain words. More commonly, synesthetes perceive numbers and letters as having [...]
Posts under ‘Brain’
Baby hears for first time with Cochlear implant
This video has gone viral, but it’s worth linking here. The expression on eight-month old Jonathan’s face when he hears for the first time, due to a Cochlear implant, is priceless. A reminder of how technology enhances our lives – and a promise of what’s to come. (Via Neatorama)
Does the road to AI begin with smartphone chips?
While the computer chips in our smartphones (say, iPhones or Android phones) are increasingly capable of processing a large amount of information, their most valuable asset is their low power consumption. Steve Furber is a computer engineer who plans on combining 50,000 of the chips, however, to create an “artificial brain” that simulates one billion [...]
Human brain can hold 2.5 petabytes of memories – but what does that mean?
Over at Scientific American, a reader wonders about the memory capacity of the human brain. According to Dr. Paul Reber, professor of psychology at Northwestern University, the answer is about 2.5 petabytes, with the following rationale: The human brain consists of about one billion neurons. Each neuron forms about 1,000 connections to other neurons, amounting [...]
Bionic eye may restore sight for patients with progressive vision loss
My grandfather suffered from age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), which causes loss of vision over time. By the time he passed away in his late 70s, he was almost blind. ARMD progresses from the “inside” of your visual field to the outside, so those affected are unable to see that which they are looking at directly. [...]
Researchers discover how Ritalin increases cognitive function
The drug Ritalin is commonly prescribed for use in treating ADHD, but researchers also know that Ritalin boosts cognitive function in people without the disorder. How? The drug works in two ways. First, Ritalin increases dopamine activity in the brain, which enhances attention and learning. Second, it enhances neural plasticity – “changes in strength of [...]
Control your avatar in Second Life – with your mind!
This video of someone controlling Second Life through a brain-computer interface looks like fun, but surely it’s no brain controlled pinball. (Via Edge of Tomorrow)
Teaser for “Bluebrain – Year One” documentary
If you’re interested in learning more about what goes on behind-the-scenes at the Blue Brain Project, an effort to reverse-engineer the mammalian brain, this short documentary is a good start. It features interviews with project leader Henry Markram explaining more about the project and shows how his team is going about its important work. This [...]
Chemical computer mimics actions of neurons
Scientists in the EU are working on a “chemical computer” that may one day be used to control nanobots and smart drugs: The “wet computer” incorporates several recently discovered properties of chemical systems that can be hijacked to engineer computing power. The team’s approach mimics some of the actions of neurons in the brain. The [...]
Henry Markram: We will develop simulated brain by 2018
The Daily Mail features a very in-depth feature story about the work of Henry Markram and the Blue Brain Project, an effort to “reverse-engineer the mammalian brain, in order to understand brain function and dysfunction through detailed simulations.” Markram and team, who have already been able to simulate the workings of “about 10,000 neurons,” firmly [...]