Neuroweapons, Virtual Space Wars and Scientific Telepathy

It's been a long break but I am back! Recently I am preparing my newest set of experiments and I got a bit disconnected from RSS feeds drip-bag. Yesterday I realized that my Google account might eventually crash  from information overload and that I haven't uploaded myself and You with some new infornography for a long time. So here are my favorite highlights from the last month:

1. Those of you interested in hardcore military neuropsychology - there is new call for you. Air Force Research Lab just opened a call for proposals for a six-year long project with $49 million to deploy extreme neuroscience and biotechnology in the service of welfare. One of the potential projects include  'artificially overwhelming enemy cognitive abilities with external stimuli'. Speaking simply - the goal is to use set of audiovisual techniques in some unknown format to fuss enemy sensory system in any situation. Suddenly the Man Who Stare At Goats doesn't look so crazy...

2. In the virtual science-fiction world EVE online, two big 'space corporations' succeeded in destroying £14,000 worth virtual spaceships and resources of the third corporations. They just wanted to push it away from particular space sector. Because there is a currency conversion between real and virtual world of EVE, those were... well, the real money. You can watch the battle below:

3. Finally,  a super exciting study from recent Nature Review by Moran Cerf and lots of colleagues. In a huge chunk of neuroimaging studies, he claims that specific brain cells can be linked to specific topics, concepts, objects or people, and will flare up with the brain activity when the particular subject is mentioned. Because non-invasive brain scanners can't  achieve a resolution good enough to monitor activity of the single cells, Cerf et al. use patients with already implanted electrodes deep inside the brain. He found that when volunteers thought about Marilyn Monroe, a particular neuron reliably lit up. So he could build a brain activity database of different concepts, usually famous ones, from buildings like Eiffel Tower to different celebrities. After that, researchers could reliably detect what concept subject was thinking about, just on the bases of neuronal activity. Cool eh?

More stuff coming soon, so stay tuned for the online makeover celebrating the first year of Geek On Acid blog being online!

Video source: YouTube

Woman Addicted to Brain Implant

I have been organizing my papers over the weekend and I found this 1986 paper from Pain journal which describes the first ever case recorded of a woman addicted to deep brain stimulation implant.

The described patient (48 years old) has been suffering from chronic pain for over 15 years, with a recorded history of heavy addiction to opium-based painkillers and alcohol. It was established by psychiatrists that the best course of treatment for the pain would be to use an implant located in thalamus. Indeed, during the self-stimulation the pain has been removed, but as a unexpected side effect, she has been also experiencing an erotic sensation (although without orgasm).

As a result, she started stimulating herself throughout the day, neglecting family commitments and personal hygiene. She also developed ulceration on the top of her finger used to adjust the amplitude dial for brain implant. Over the two years after the implant was installed, her compulsive use of the stimulation dial has been associated with 'frequent attacks of anxiety, depersonalization, periods of psychogenic polydipsia and virtually complete inactivity' [1]. She also developed a heart disturbance (paroxysmal atrial tachycardia).

I read this paper thinking about those experiments with rats who pressed button every second to produce the pleasant stimulation via brain implant, until they died from exhaustion. How closely related we are all in the animal kingdom...

[1] Potenoy, R. K., Jarden, J. O., Sidtis, J. J., Lipton, R. B., Foley K. M., Rottenberg, D. A. (1986) Compulsive Thalamic Self-Stimulation: a Case with Metabolic, Electrophysical and Behavioral Correlates. Pain 27: 277-290. [you can access this paper for free here]

Neurointerface

William Gibson in his 1984 novel Neuromancer predicted that we might connect the computer to our brain. His dark story was a fiction 25 years ago, but now it becomes a reality.

We are closer than ever to interface our brain with the computer.

One of the most promising developments is BrainGate (currently during clinical trials conducted by Cyberkinetics). BrainGate consist of a sensor in the form of sophisticated micro-electrodes implanted directly into motor cortex and a decoder - dedicated software translating brain activity into useful commands for external devices. At this stage the majority of tests are conducted in patients with severe forms of paralysis, like Quadriplegia or Locked-in syndrome.

Application? Prosthetic limbs control, complex computer operation with augmented reality, therapy for neuronal-based disorder (in expansion of deep-brain stimulation).


Certainly, we don't know enough about the brain at this stage to be able to create complex interfaces, but even hooking motor cortex with functional microchip will be a milestone in neurocybernetics.

Problems?

What problems? ;-)

But seriously, one outlined in this month issue of Wired is neurosecurity. Folks at the Medical Device Security Center (MDSC) showed that they could reprogram implantable hearth regulator with simple radio equipment. Now, think about your neuroimplant being hacked, and your prosthetic limb, anti-depressive brain stimulator or remote control function (;-) taken over? So MDSC is now developing encrypting security methods for neuroimplants.

A Firewall for your brain.

[photo credits: Cyberkinetics]