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Young Chimps are Better than Adults in Numerical Memory Task?
2007-12-03 18:46:00
Sana Inoue and Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University showed a computer screen grid of nine numbers to six chimpanzees. The chimps were previously trained to recognize the ascending nature of the numbers. They were also shown to nine college students. When subjects touched one of the numbers, all of the others vanished. They then had to touch the squares in the order of the numbers that used to be there. When the numbers flashed for just four-tenths of a second or less, one of the chimps beat all of the college students. Here's the press release from 'Current Biology', a publication of Cell Press: Young chimps top adult humans in numerical memory Young chimpanzees have an “extraordinary” ability to remember numerals that is superior to that of human adults, researchers report in the December 4th issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press. “There are still many people, including many biologists, who believe that humans are superior to chimp...
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A Young Person's Guide to Brainwave Music
2007-11-21 21:22:00
This is a great article from the now defunct Canadian magazine 'HorizonZero'. The zine was a multimedia web magazine about digital art and culture in Canada. This article is from issue 15 published in 2004 - but this is the first time I've seen it. This article was written by Andrew Brouse. You can check out the other issues at http://www.horizonzero.ca (http://www.horizonzero.ca) http://regen.eyetap.org (http://regen.eyetap.org) Using hardware from Thought Technology [www.thoughttechnology.com (http://www.thoughttechnology.com) and the PD interactive programming environment, [www.crca.ucsd.edu/~msp/software (http://www.crca.ucsd.edu/~msp/software) the brainwaves of the audience-performers are channelled into the creation of an interactive sonic and visual environment, where the participants' brainwave patterns create the music and lighting effects for the evening. Readers having sensations of déjà-vu are not entirely mistaken: this event was onl...
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Regular posting to resume
2007-10-17 19:31:00
I just wanted to drop a big note apologizing for the lack of updates to the blog - I have a lot of catching up to do. We were busy moving into our new office and finishing construction. I'll try to post any news that we may have missed during the past two weeks. Thanks! Gary @ Mind Modulations
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The passing of time in dreams - A study using Lucid Dreams
2007-09-19 15:16:00
The following is a study used lucid dreamers to determine the subjective measurement of time in dreams - by Daniel Erlacher and Michael Schredl from Germany. Time required for motor activity in lucid dreams Daniel Erlacher - Institute for Sport and Sport Science, University of Heidelberg, Germany Michael Schredl - Sleep laboratory, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany Summary The present study investigated the relationship between the required time for specific tasks (counting and performing squats) in lucid dreams and in the waking state. Five proficient lucid dreamers (26-34 years old, M = 29.8, SD = 3.0; one woman and four men) participated in this study. The results showed that the time needed for counting in a lucid dream is comparable to the time needed for counting in wakefulness, but motor activities required more time in lucid dreams than in the waking state. Introduction The relationship between subjectively estimated time ...
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An article on Lucid Dreaming from the New York Times
2007-09-19 13:56:00
This was from yesterday's New York Times - an article called 'Living Your Dreams, in a Manner of Speaking'. It talks a little about the concept of lucid dreaming, but also focuses on a new movie being written and directed by Jake Paltrow called "The Good Night". Living Your Dreams, in a Manner of Speaking Established sleep researchers say lucid dreaming is occasionally reported by subjects, though it is difficult to validate scientifically. “Yes, lucid dreaming exists,” said Dr. Rodney Radtke, the medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Duke University. “Yes, people certainly can, within their dream, realize ‘this is just a dream’ and continue to participate.” “Do I believe that someone could potentially alter or interact with their dreams in such a way that they could change the dream? Yes,” he said. “Do I think that you could essentially design a dream — ‘Oh, I want to go to Honolulu and...
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Video: Interesting Experiment - Richard Dawkins on the God Machine
2007-09-19 12:58:00
Michael Persinger is a neuropsychologist at Canada's Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. His theory is that the sensation described as having a religious experience is merely a side effect of our bicameral brain's feverish activities. He has attempted to create experiments to show that when the right hemisphere of the brain is stimulated in the cerebral region presumed to control notions of self, and then the left hemisphere is called upon to make sense of this nonexistent entity, the mind generates what is felt as a 'sensed presence.' Many of Persinger's studies detail the reactions that people have when their temporal lobes are stimulated with complex magnetic fields. Some of the subjects experience a 'sensed presence' in the form of the deity from the culture that they were raised in. They see the God (or spirits associated with their God - the Virgin Mary, Mohammed, etc) that they believe in. Others have had experiences that mimi...
More About: Video , Interesting , Machine , Experiment , Richard Dawkins

Video: Split Brain Behavioral Experiments
2007-09-19 12:41:00
The patient in the video had his corpus callosum removed in order to stop his seizures due to epilepsy. The procedure prevented the hemispheres from communicating with one another in any way and caused a sort of 'split consciousness'. To reduce the severity of his seizures, Joe had the bridge between his left and right cerebral hemisphers (the corpus callosum) severed. As a result, his left and right brains no longer communicate through that pathway. Here's what happens as a result:
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Changing Your Brainwaves Using Auditory Binaural Beats - For Free
2007-09-16 18:56:00
There has been a surge of interest in binaural beats during recent years, and a number of software only products that utilize this technology have become quite popular. What are they? A binaural beat is generated from two tones. Each tone is of a slightly different pitch. One tone is presented to the left ear, and the other to the right. The two tones combine into a single tone sensed by your brain. This single tone pulse is the stimulating when entraining with binaural beats. Binaural beats are probably the most well-known stimulus used for entrainment. They have been shown to work, but other entrainment techniques are more effective. Our machines produce binaural beats and dual binaural beats. They also include other audio entrainment methods in addition to these. I've personally found the that frequency following effect of binaural beats is quite modest, but they do actually work and have an effect on brainwaves that can be shown with EEG. Here's a bit of histor...
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Buzz Aldrin plays BrainBall at Wired's NextFest
2007-09-16 17:36:00
NextFest (http://wirednextfest.com/inform/event_ov erview.php) is Wired Magazine's (http://www.wired.com) four-day festival of innovative products and technologies. We blogged about MindBall last year, which is the commercialized version of Brainball. BrainBall is a game created by Interactive Institute. Players of the game have EEG sensors connected to their forehead with a strap. The electrodes in the strap read the players' brainwaves. Brainball is a game that goes against the conventional competitive concept, and also reinvents the relationship between man and machine. Instead of activity and adrenalin, it is passivity and calmness that mark the truly successful Brainball player. Brainball is unique amongst machines since it is not controlled by the player's rational and strategic thoughts and decisions. On the contrary, the participants are dependent on the body's own intuitive reactions to the game machine. At first glance, Brainball seems similar to a tradi...
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Is Remote Viewing Real? What is the Evidence?
2007-09-13 17:51:00
There are sites on the net that claim to teach the ability, there's an International Remote Viewing Association (http://www.irva.org/) that even has conferences (http://irvaconference.org/) (there's one starting on October 19th, apparently), the US government has funded research in it (http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/s targate.htm) (in the 1970's), we've even had customers buy our mind machines to help them with remote viewing and claim great success. I've never had any type of experiences that are anything like remote viewing - and I'm not sure that I believe that it is even possible - but I'm open to the idea. Star Gate'. (http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/s targate.htm) They began the program in 1970 (then called SCANATE - good thing they changed the name to something that sounded cooler) at the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, Ca. This program continued in different forms using both soldiers and civilians who were believed to posess natural psychic ...
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Quick Neurotransmitter Refresher
2007-09-13 16:21:00
What are they and how do they work? Of course everyone reading this already knows :) But it helps to have a quick reminder to refresh our memory every once in a while. Having a basic understanding about these special chemicals in our brain and how they work helps us to understand memory, learning, behavior, addiction, how drugs work, and emotions. First we'll quickly go over some of the most important neurotransmitters. Acetylcholine: The first neurotransmitter to be identified. It allows nerve cells to communicate with each other. Noradrenalin (Norephinephrine): Acts as a stress hormone and affects the parts of our brain where attention and responding actions are controlled. It is what is behind the fight-or-flight response. Dopamine: Plays an important role in motivation and reward, sleep, mood, attention, motor activity, cognition and learning. Endorphin: Helps modulate pain ("natural opiates"), cardiac, gastric and vascular function. Ser...
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New EEG System Develops Visual Images from Brain Activity
2007-09-07 13:46:00
Found on Neurofeedback on the Brain Blog (http://neurofeedback.blogharbor.com/blog /_archives/2007/9/5/3197992.html) here (http://brainpaint.com/gallery1/index.htm l) More on Bill Scott's EEG biofeedback system here (http://www.brainpaint.com/)
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Researchers use fMRI to Determine Brain Activation Location during Placebo
2007-09-07 13:38:00
From NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story .php?storyId=12487035) here (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story .php?storyId=12487035) to listen to an audio recording of Wagner discussion the team's findings.
More About: General , Placebo , Location , Brain , Activation

Free Access to a Variety of Neuroscience and Neurology Journals From Sage P
2007-09-07 13:18:00
Free access to: Journal of Biological Rhythms here (https://online.sagepub.com/cgi/register? registration=FTN72663) (requires registration)
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Ambient Corporation's New Human-Computer Interface called Audeo Intercepts
2007-09-07 12:57:00
A company called Ambient (http://www.theaudeo.com/) has developed a device that intercepts signals sent to the voice box from the brain via a sensor laden neck band. They claim to be able to decode these signals and match them to a pre-recorded series of words - even when the words are voiced out-loud. Theses 'words' can then be used to control things via a computer. They are currently using this system to direct a motorized wheelchair, allowing a paralysed person to navigate without moving or speaking out-loud. Ambient is developing the technology with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago to help people with neurological problems operate computers and other electronic equipment despite their problems with muscle control. This is the first time (that I know about, anyway) that a device has been able to convert electrical impulses from the brain into actual words. This is different from traditional EEG, which measures brainwaves, as it is analyzing signals outside ...
More About: Products , Computer , Human , Interface

What is Brain Plasticity?
2007-09-04 13:57:00
Discussion on brain plasticity, or neuroplasticity, has increased during the past several years. What is it and why should we be concerned about it? Our brains can migrate activity associated with specific functions to a different location as a result of neuroplasticity. This is an extremely important ability to have after a brain injury or even after normal experience (such as aging). Neuroplasticity allows the brain to re-wire itself as a response to changes in the environment. It is also what is behind the learning process and memory formation. Plasticity consists of laying out preferred pathways within the brain for circulating important information and is the brain's ability to adapt. Neuroplasticity from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasti city) Here is a link (http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/sundayedition_ 20070430_2176.mp3) to a great audio interview from CBC radio with Dr. Norman Doidge. He is the author of "The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal...
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High School Student's Biofeedback Research Project Accepted at Conference
2007-09-03 14:17:00
Nancy Leo, a senior at Arizona's Hamilton High School , had her science fair research project selected as one of 18 projects to be presented at the Sixth World Congress on Stress in Austria (http://www.icms.com.au/stress2007/). here (http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/9 6499)
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The Dana Guide to Brain Health Free Online
2007-09-01 11:53:00
The DANA Foundation has decided to make their book "The Dana Guide to Brain Health : A Practical Family Reference from Medical Experts" section on brain disorders freely available online. Amazon.com: (http://www.amazon.com/Dana-Guide-Brain-H ealth-Practical/dp/1932594108/sr=8-2/qid= 1163520801/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-0198729-28 64725?ie=UTF8 s=books) With contributions from over one hundred of the most prominent scientists and clinicians in the United States, The Dana Guide to Brain Health is an extensive and wholly accessible manual on the workings of the human brain. This richly illustrated volume contains a wealth of facts and advice, on simple yet effective ways to take care of our brains; the intimate connection between brain health and body health; brain development from the prenatal period through adulthood; and how we learn, remember, and imagine. The brain is far too important to be excluded any longer from our daily health concerns. The Dana Guide to Brain Health remedies t...
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New Study Uses Biofeedback to Predict a Gamer's Gameplay
2007-08-31 14:14:00
Budapest University of Technology and Economics (http://www.bme.hu/en/) are using GSR Biofeedback (Galvonic Skin Response, or skin conductance) in a study where they've shown that a gamer's actions can be predicted up to two seconds before they occur. Laufer says There are quite a few situations in life where there would be a need to provide a support for making a good decision at a good time. I have military applications (pilots) in mind, but surely we can find others as well. He also sees it being used in video games Another application I have in mind could be called a frustration game This type of game could detect when a player was going to act and change gameplay to throw off the player. This type of technology could be integrated into game controlers easily. This type of technology (GSR Biofeedback) should be used in more video games, but I'm not too sure that it would be very successful if used in a manner that would frustrate game players! It c...
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MorrisonDance - A dance performance using BrainMaster Neurofeedback
2007-08-29 22:16:00
MorrisonDance , a dance troupe founded by choreographer Sarah Morrison, teamed up with a team of engineers from NASA's Glenn Research Center to create a performance featuring live brainwaves of dancers using the BrainMast er. This is actually from September 2005 - but just in case you missed it: (like I did!)
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Video: Ken Wilbur enters into various meditative states during a EEG Neuro
2007-08-29 21:53:00
You may have already seen this, but it is new to me. Ken Wilbur narrates a video of his own experience using neurofeedback while navigating various meditative states. From YouTube: 'We asked Ken to do a short 10-minute commentary on these various meditative states and the corresponding brain-wave patterns that are shown on the EEG machine in the video. Ken enters four meditative states (nirvikalpa closed eyes, nirvikalpa open eyes, sahaj, and mantra-savikalpa), each of which has a very distinctive brain-wave pattern. In his commentary, Ken emphasizes that the patterns shown on this machine may or may not be typical, but they do emphasize that profound consciousness states can be evoked at will, and these show immediate correlation in brain-wave patterns.'
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MindMods CogSciTech Consciousness Paper Posting #2
2007-08-28 13:42:00
This paper is called "Cons ciousness Redux" and is something of a history of theoretical positions on the function of consciousness. It was written by George Mandler of the University of California University College London. Consciousness Redux George Mandler University of California, San Diego and University College London Copyright (C) 1993 George Mandler I start with a review of 20 years of proposals on the functions of consciousness. I then present a minimal number of functions that consciouness subserves, as well as as some remaining puzzles about its psychology. In the process I stress a psychologist's functional approach, asking what consciousness is for. The result is an attempt to place conscious processes within the usual flow of human information processing.
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Is Consciousness Definable? Video from PBS
2007-08-28 00:49:00
PBS's Closer to Truth featuring Christof Koch, Leslie Brothers, Joseph E. Bogen Stuart Hameroff try to answer this question. These four scientists have the same question but give four different answers. (http://www.mindmodulations.com/mindmods/ /images/blogimages//Morning_Cons ciousness .jpg) Is Consciousness Definable? One problem is that there are too many definitions! And getting these four guests to agree on what consciousness is and what causes it, is a fun but hopeless task that is revelatory at the same time. These four leading brain scientists couldn't even agree on at what level a simple "memory" was stored, whether as a gross "brain circuit," at the synapse between nerve cells, or in the microstructure of the nerve cells as some sort of quantum effect. But why should it be any different now? Philosophers have debated the "mind-body problem" and the existence of "free will" for thousands of years. However, never before have we been in a position to examine the br...
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Using fMRI for NeuroFeedback
2007-08-26 13:28:00
A company called Omneuron aims to use MR Imaging for neurofeedback purposes, although they aren't calling it neurofeedback. The company is using fMRI (real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging) to measure blood flow to different parts of the brain and use it to teach sufferers of chronic pain, depression, addiction and other psychological conditions to see which parts of the brain are activated while performing different tasks. It is essentially neurofeedback using fMRI instead of EEG. Another company called No Lie MRI is trying to sell similar technology to companies and agencies in the government as a replacement to the polygraph.
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Scientists use Pac-Man, Electric Shocks and Neuroimaging to study Fear in t
2007-08-26 12:57:00
Scientists from 'Wellcome Trust' claim to have identified for the first time what happens in our brain in the face of an approaching fear. They measured activity in the brain using fMRI while a subject played a game similar to Pac-Man and received an electric-shocks when they were caught by the video game predator. They found that activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (behind the eyebrows) increased when the enemy was in the distance - this part of the brain is active when one is planning how to respond to a threat. As the video game enemy approached, predominant activity shifted to the periaqueductal grey - the part of the brain responsible for flight or fight and preparing for reaction to pain. The title of their study is 'Free Will Takes Flight', as it shows that we act more on impulse when a threat increases. Abstract can be found here (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTX039785. html) Article in Science Magazine can be found here (http://www.sciencemag.org/c...
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Scientists Mimic Out-Of-Body Experience using Technology
2007-08-24 18:06:00
Prof. Olaf Blanke and his colleagues from the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at EPFL in Switzerland have been doing research on the neural-correlates of out-of-body-experiences since at least 2002. This new study is very unusual, as they claim to be able to produce an out-of-body-experience when the user of special goggles is shown a projected image of themselves while being poked with a stick. Out-of-body experiences are most common in people who endure intense meditation practices, experience sleep paralysis, and following certain types of head injuries. Research such as this strives to discover exactly how the brain creates the out-of-body-experience sensation. It is arguable whether these experiencies re-produce bona-fide NBE's, but it is an interesting effect nonetheless. NewScientist just posted a video to YouTube featuring Olaf's group inducing out-of-body-experiences:
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How Mushrooms can Help Save the World - An Interview with Paul Stamets
2007-08-22 20:14:00
Paul Stamets is a well-known mycologist from the Pacific Northwest. He has some interesting theories about consciousness that are discussed in this interview. Specifically - that mushrooms are conscious and that their mycelial network is something like a neural net. PersonalLifeMedia.com (PersonalLifeMedia.com) What is fungal intelligence? Paul Staments, the “Mycelium Messenger” reveals the great ecological purpose of mycelium – earth’s new internet. Beginning with his magic mushroom, psychedelic work covered with a DEA License and evolving into a much more robust work that his “mother is happy about” – this interview will prepare you to see a whole new world the next time you walk into the forest. Hear stories from Paul’s new book, “Mycelium running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World ” and listen to a deep discussion on mushroom consciousness with the man behind this 21st century manual for healing the earth. You&...
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MindMods CogSciTech Consciousness Paper Posting #1
2007-08-22 16:59:00
We're going to try and post an interesting paper on consciousness at least once a week. There are debates among those philosophers and scientists who study consciousness about pretty much every aspect of consciousness - especially about what consciousness actually is. Many of these are surprisingly easy to read, given the nature of their arguments. This first paper called 'Being Cons cious of Ourselves' was written by David M. Rosenthal and published in The Monist issue 82, 2 (April 2004) in a special issue on self-consciousness. BEING CONSCIOUS OF OURSELVES Abstract: I argue that we can explain how we are conscious of ourselves by appeal to essentially indexical thoughts we have about ourselves, in particular about our own current mental states. I show that being conscious of ourselves in that way doesn't require that we are aware of ourselves in some privileged way that's antecedent to the higher-order thoughts we have about our own mental states. The account suc...
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Neuroscientists find another way to erase long term memories
2007-08-22 11:41:00
A study in June that was revealed in the Journal of Psychiatric Research used an 'amnesia' drug to 'dampen' the memories of trauma victims. The drug they used was called propranolol - a drug normally used to treat hypertension, but causes memory problems. A new study published in Science by neuroscientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehobot, Israel, uses a protein to wipe out long-term memories in rats. Yadin Dudai and Reut Shema are trying to show that memories can last for years or even a lifetime, but they are constantly maintained by an active process that can be disrupted. First they trained rats to avoid the sweet smell of sacharin by giving them a chemical that made them sick whenever they were exposed to it. They quickly learned to avoid it. They then injected the rat cortex with a protein called ZIP. ZIP silences an enzyme called PKM-zeta, which is believed to be the key to perpetuating long-term memory. After the injection, the rats lost their ...
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New Biofeedback Game called BioBox - Tetris with Biofeedback
2007-08-21 19:05:00
A game studio called Frozen North Productions (http://www.frozennorth.net/index.htm) in Canada has created an off-shoot of Tetris that they call Biobox. Their Biofeedback version of Tetris uses pulse rate to determine the speed of the following blocks. Like many biofeedback games, the object is to relax while playing - and the incentive is ease-of-play. Frozen North Productions (http://www.frozennorth.net/index.htm) will be selling the game online soon.
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