Programming the Human Brain

[Lightmeow]

I have a pretty crazy idea, that probably won't work, but it's still worth thinking about. So you know with how we have to go to school, and learn. How cool would it be if we could "upload" information into our brain. I don't know how we would do that.

 

So I have a few questions.

 

When we learn something, are the things we learn put into our memories(like what we ate yesterday), or does what we learn go into a different part of the brain?

 

And what are memories anyways? How does the brain store memories? And are what we learn memories?

 

How are things like learning karate or gymnastics stored in our brain? Is that stored in our memories, or is that a whole separate part of the brain. I am asking that specific question because learning that stuff takes experience to do, and you need to do it over and over. You know, you just don't just read about how to do a back flip, and then be able to do a back flip.

 

And can modern medical science read memories? And if not, what would need to happen so we could do that?

 

Thanks in advance for the time spent reading and thinking.

[pavelcherepan]

 

 

How cool would it be if we could "upload" information into our brain. I don't know how we would do that.

 

"-- I know kung-fu!

-- Show me"

 

 

 

And can modern medical science read memories? And if not, what would need to happen so we could do that?

 

Not as far as I've heard of. I think that our general understanding of how brain works with information is pretty poor, so it would take a long time until we're able to read/write memories.

 

 

 

When we learn something, are the things we learn put into our memories(like what we ate yesterday), or does what we learn go into a different part of the brain?

 

There are several models of how memory works, for example:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkinson%E2%80%93Shiffrin_memory_model

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_memory

[Lightmeow]

I wasn't referring to the matrix, I have never watched that movie before. Looks cool though.

 

How the memory works is fascinating. But I didn't know that how we understood the brain was not how we understand other things. I just see scientists refering to the human brain like a really complex computer. Maybe if we looked at the brain like a computer we would understand it better.

[Endy0816]

There's stuff out there:

 

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/09/22/brain-movies/

http://www.wired.com/2013/02/rodent-mind-meld/

 

Every set-up I've seen works similarly. You train a machine or even another brain to interpret outputs and inputs.

 

There doesn't appear to be any universal programming language though. I can show you:

 

█ █ █ ██ ██ ██ █ █ █

 

and yet have no idea how your brain will interpret it beyond the most basic level.

 

Might want to look into neural nets in general.

[KMC]

Most long term memories are stored in the hippocampus. Some scientists are already working on trying to upload memories but as far as I'm aware they have only got as far as doing it with mice and only on a basic level, like remembering that pushing two buttons get you a food reward. The problem with memories being so complex is that your brain categorizes different aspects of the memory and stores it in different parts of the brain. Take for example a walk in the park - the sounds, smell, sights, and temperature are all stored separately. When you are reminded of a memory because of one particular category like a certain smell, this is your brain rapidly trying to pull all of the different categories together to reform the full memory.

 

The current experiments being done include creating a sort of artificial hippocampus that can be placed inside the head of a mouse (or at some point in the future, a human) containing the electrical signals that make up that memory. This involves first extracting the memories or electrical brain signals which is difficult as you first have to identify which signals are a part of the memory, and then programming them into the artificial hippocampus. It is hoped that one day this will be done on a human level but the main problem at the minute is the complexity of the programming required and our lack of knowledge on how different people interpret different memories. Also with things such as walking or eating that we have been doing nearly all of our lives, the memory is no longer stored in the hippocampus but in other parts of the brain like the frontal lobe responsible for elements of movement or the temporal lobe which plays a part in balance.

 

I think it would be cool to upload memories though and maybe one day it will be a reality but it is not likely to be done in the same way as in the matrix at first because this involves processing information directly out of the spinal chord I think.

 

I hope this helps and I haven't just overcomplicated stuff

[DevilSolution]

Your subconscious mind deals with 90% of your brain. Memories are collections of neurons that are like muscles. They have connections called axions with thousands of links to other neurons. Calcium ions are used as the primary nerve signal and then secondary is the chemical response. Good memories will will probably release diny doses of 5-hydroxy tryptamine making you feel good. Memories last forever unless like those specific neurons go free radical or such but the less you recall a memory the fainter it becomes, almost like a dormant entity waiting for a trigger.

 

Anyway, its the imagination thats most interesting, creativity is an aspect of neurology that seems almost impossible to understand.

 

As for cybernetics i think pandora should steer clear. With the amount of open and free data available you should hardly need a memory upgrade, if you have an honest interest in something youll learn and retain it anyway.

[ThinkingMind]

I have a pretty crazy idea, that probably won't work, but it's still worth thinking about. So you know with how we have to go to school, and learn. How cool would it be if we could "upload" information into our brain. I don't know how we would do that.

 

So I have a few questions.

 

When we learn something, are the things we learn put into our memories(like what we ate yesterday), or does what we learn go into a different part of the brain?

 

And what are memories anyways? How does the brain store memories? And are what we learn memories?

 

How are things like learning karate or gymnastics stored in our brain? Is that stored in our memories, or is that a whole separate part of the brain. I am asking that specific question because learning that stuff takes experience to do, and you need to do it over and over. You know, you just don't just read about how to do a back flip, and then be able to do a back flip.

 

And can modern medical science read memories? And if not, what would need to happen so we could do that?

 

Thanks in advance for the time spent reading and thinking.

I believe that would be the most efficiunt method of learning. However we have not evolved or gotten anyone working on that project yet. Even though they have used human DNA to program computers, so you know I dont think this idea is really terribly far fetched.

[Xalatan]

There are different models of memory formation. The long term potentiation model describes the hippocampal neurons using excitatory NMDA based signalling to strengthen synaptic connections, perhaps even forming new axons and synapses as the anatomical basis for short term memory. Long term memory may be then transported and stored elsewhere in the cortex.

[Function]

Xalatan is most likely right. Most likely because we're dealing with very fragile, mostly unexplored matters here. I'm afraid I stopped reading KMC's reaction right when I read that memories are stored in the hippocampus. It has been shown (I have no source but you'll have to accept from me that it was mentioned in my neurophysiology syllabus 2015), that memories are indeed 'stored' in places relevant to the senses forming the experience evoked by the memory. For example, if you see a green cup, then chances are likely that the next day, when you see a green cup, you'll remember having seen that (or another, doesn't really matter) green cup the day before. This will have to do with synaptic plasticity (look up Hebbian synapse) mostly in the visual cortices. It is undebatable that, indeed, the hippocampus is essential in forming memories (short term and long term)

 

It is shown that if certain parts of the brain are stimulated, one experiences something that he or she has experienced before - a memory is begin evoked. There's also a possibility of evoking something that the patient genuinely experiences as a memory (something experienced before), but actually has not experienced in the past. Very interesting matter.

 

We cannot read memories. We can read thoughts, to a certain degree, however. I think that the synaptic strength (cf. synaptic plasticity, look up Hebbian synapse) between neurons firing during these thoughts make us 'remember' something, or, if not so strong, experience it for the first time. Look up the work of Belgian professor Steven Laureys who uses fMRI etc. to read his patients' minds (to a certain, limited degree!!) by giving significance to the results of the scans.

 

You may want to look up the video "memories are made of this" on YouTube, in which Eric Kandel, PhD (Nobel Prize, 2000, for his work about sensitization in aplysia) explains how sensitization and different types of memory work. This is of course a very simplistic circuit, but may give us an idea about how things may work in our brains.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Function