[MD] Metaphysics and the mystic.

[MarshaV]

Mark, 

This was wonderful.  You outdid yourself.  Here's some more tales from the crypt:  

---
Mind-reading program translates brain activity into words... 

Scientists have picked up fragments of people's thoughts by decoding the brain activity caused by words that they hear.

The remarkable feat has given researchers fresh insight into how the brain processes language, and raises the tantalising prospect of devices that can return speech to the speechless.

Though in its infancy, the work paves the way for brain implants that could monitor a person's thoughts and speak words and sentences as they imagine them.

Such devices could transform the lives of thousands of people who lose the ability to speak as a result of a stroke or other medical conditions.

Experiments on 15 patients in the US showed that a computer could decipher their brain activity and play back words they heard, though at times the words were difficult to recognise.

"This is exciting in terms of the basic science of how the brain decodes what we hear," said Robert Knight, a senior member of the team and director of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley.

...

Knight said that is in the realm of science fiction. "To reproduce what we did, you would have to open up someone's skull and they would have to co-operate." Making a device to help people speak will not be easy. Brain signals that encode imagined words could be harder to decipher and the device must be small and operate wirelessly. Another potential headache is distinguishing between words a person wants to say and thoughts they would rather keep private.

Jan Schnupp, professor of neuroscience at Oxford University called the work "remarkable".

"Neuroscientists have long believed that the brain works by translating aspects of the external world, such as spoken words, into patterns of electrical activity. But proving that this is true by showing that it is possible to translate these activity patterns back into the original sound – or at least a fair approximation – is nevertheless a great step forward. It paves the way to rapid progress toward biomedical applications," he said.

"Some may worry though that this sort of technology might lead to mind-reading devices which could one day be used to eavesdrop on the privacy of our thoughts. Such worries are unjustified. It is worth remembering that these scientists could only get their technique to work because epileptic patients had cooperated closely and willingly with them, and allowed a large array of electrodes to be placed directly on the surface of their brains.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jan/31/mind-reading-program-brain-words

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/03/146350509/listening-in-on-the-brain-to-decode-speech. 

 
 


Sent from my iPad

On Feb 3, 2012, at 6:32 PM, 118 <ununoctiums at gmail.com> wrote:

> Yeah, you got to love those wacked-out scientists.  And people think
> that Artists hold a monopoly on the strange, bizaare, and creative.  I
> know some scientists that outclass Dali by a long shot.  I know
> scientists that put Christo to shame.  I have friends who put
> Performance art in a whole new level.  I live in a museum who's output
> just doesn't stop.  Warhol, eat your heart out!
> 
> Just don't take science so seriously, it was never meant to be
> serious.  We get paid to play with toys and build new things.  We get
> presented with riddles and try to solve them.  How serious can that
> be?  Seriously!
> 
> Those bohemians who claim to be artists have no idea of creative
> potential.  Those arrogant film makers have never tried to create a
> movie on the dual nature of light.  Those silly actors have never
> tried to act out a reality experiment in crazy psychology using a
> double-blind technique.  Those art collectors have no idea what it
> means to collect.
> 
> If you want to experience a frenzy of creativity, you need go no
> farther than a lab.  We put it all on display for you to see and be
> astonished by.  It is a hard act to follow!
> 
> Not only that, but you believe everything we tell you!  Yes, there
> absolutely is a black hole in the center of our milky way.  You can
> take that to the bank!  Oh, and that expanding universe?  Well you had
> better believe it!  We can't just make something like that up.  And,
> don't forget, the Earth is becoming a toaster!  I can tell you that
> without smiling, while I get into my SUV.  Heh, Heh.  I wonder what we
> can come up with next?  How about that man popped out of a monkey!
> (OK, maybe that is stretching it a bit).  How about that man very very
> very slowly popped out of a monkey, there, that kind of wool will keep
> you from seeing.  We know that such is absolutely without question the
> case, so you had better act accordingly.
> 
> The next Revelations are being formulated as you read this.  Stay
> tuned!  Nostradamus does not hold a candle to the Super Scientists!
> Just wait, we will develop an H1N1 virus that is freely air
> transmissible if you do not watch it!  What else do you expect out of
> children that are given all the toys they want?
> 
> By artists I am not referring to my friend Tuukka, by the way.  He is
> more of a scientist, not just some random painter or metaphysician
> eeking along :-) .
> 
> Cheers,
> Mark
> 
> On 2/3/12, David Thomas <combinedefforts at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> On 2/3/12 12:11 AM, "Carl Thames" <cthames at centurytel.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> This is the problem I have with the current brain research.  Yes, we know
>>> which areas of the brain lights up when we experience specific emotions.
>>> The problem is the stimuli.  For example, you're walking through the park
>>> on
>>> a beautiful spring day, the weather is perfect, and your significant other
>>> is beaming at you.  I walk up to you and hand you a pretty flower and say,
>>> "Peace, Brother."  You smile and take the flower.
>> 
>> Or this one:
>> 
>> MEDICINE PRIZE: Mirjam Tuk (of THE NETHERLANDS and the UK), Debra Trampe (of
>> THE NETHERLANDS) and Luk Warlop (of BELGIUM). and jointly to Matthew Lewis,
>> Peter Snyder and Robert Feldman (of the USA), Robert Pietrzak, David Darby,
>> and Paul Maruff (of AUSTRALIA) for demonstrating that people make better
>> decisions about some kinds of things — but worse decisions about other kinds
>> of things‚ when they have a strong urge to urinate.
>> 
>> REFERENCE: "Inhibitory Spillover: Increased Urination Urgency Facilitates
>> Impulse Control in Unrelated Domains," Mirjam A. Tuk, Debra Trampe and Luk
>> Warlop, Psychological Science, vol. 22, no. 5, May 2011, pp. 627-633.
>> REFERENCE: "The Effect of Acute Increase in Urge to Void on Cognitive
>> Function in Healthy Adults," Matthew S. Lewis, Peter J. Snyder, Robert H.
>> Pietrzak, David Darby, Robert A. Feldman, Paul T. Maruff, Neurology and
>> Urodynamics, vol. 30, no. 1, January 2011, pp. 183-7.
>> ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Mirjam Tuk, Luk Warlop, Peter Snyder, Robert
>> Feldman, David Darby
>> 
>> http://www.improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2011
>> 
>> ;-)
>> 
>> Dave
>> 
>> 
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