Embedded Files
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to know what someone is thinking at any moment in time? Or what it would be like to send messages telepathically, without having to twitch a muscle. A new discovery in neuroengineering has made this seemingly impossible power a reality. In the future, this discovery has the potential to become a vital tool, whether it's in science, medicine, or even in daily life.
What is fMRI
What is fMRI
This all-new brain reading tool utilizes recently developed technology, including AI, as well as a brain imaging format known as fMRI, or functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
MRI functions by shooting radio waves (known as a radio frequency, or RF pulse) into a uniform 1.5-3T magnetic field created by the MRI machine. The magnetic field acts to align the hydrogen protons present in many bodily tissues. When the RF pulses are shot into the magnetic field, the hydrogen protons are disrupted, causing them to disalign. They slowly realign over time, and through a complex process, this realignment is what creates the image shown by an MRI.
The standard format of MRI, known as structural MRI, takes one image across the entire brain, taking roughly 30 minutes to complete. Functional MRI, unlike structural MRI, takes a multitude of scans in sequence, allowing brain scientists to see changes, specifically in blood flow, to different parts of the brain.
While structural scans allow for high spatial resolution, functional MRI allows for high temporal resolution, allowing scientists to distinguish between two images of the brain taken closely together in time.
How does this tool utilize fMRI?
How does this tool utilize fMRI?
Co-authors Alexander Huth, computational neuroscientist, and Jerry Tang, doctoral student, both working at the University of Texas at Austin, have developed a method using fMRI as well as AI in order to develop their mind-reading tool.
The two conducted a study involving two groups of participants. The first group of participants, referred to as reference participants, listened to 10 hours of radio stories while fMRI data was collected. Then, the data was fed to an advanced AI decoder to train it to recognize certain changes within the brain, and what they might mean in terms of changes in emotion. The second group of participants only had to stay in the scanner for 70 minutes, while either listening to radio stories or unrelated silent Pixar films.
Then, using realignment techniques, they were able to train the decoder to work and discern patterns within the participants' brain signals, allowing it to be applied to a general population. This brain decoder decodes messages from emotions and ideas, rather than decoding individual words. So, the thought-to-translation conversion may not be 100% accurate, it provides a highly useful tool for figuring out what message someone may be attempting to deliver.
In summary, these researchers were able to build a brand new brain decoder that is far more useful than previous decoders, allowing for the development of mind-reading tools that could have a variety of uses.
Future Uses
Future Uses
AI brain decoding is in its very early developmental stages, meaning that practical uses won't be available for a while, but there are future concepts for possible uses of this technology.
Huth and Tang hope to apply the usage of this AI brain decoder onto participants with aphasia, which is a language disorder that limits a person's ability to communicate, including speech and writing. There are obvious uses for their tool here, which would help facilitate ease of communication for these afflicted people. There are many other medical uses for this technology, with those suffering from other neurodegenerative diseases being an obvious target community.
Currently, Huth and Tang are limited to fMRI as a method to decode brain signals, but they hope that, moving forward, fNIRS, or functional near-infrared spectroscopy, which is a much more mobile method of brain imaging, and also happens to rely on changes in blood flow for scanning, would be the way in which the AI decodes brain signals. So, in the future, there may be portable, wearable technology that allows for effective telepathic communication, without the reliance on large, expensive lab equipment.
Another possible use for this technology could be for lie detection. The current polygraph lie detection system is highly unreliable, meaning evidence collected through this test is inadmissible in court. However, with the capability to read minds, the accuracy of these tests would skyrocket, allowing for possible widespread usage in the criminal justice system.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In conclusion, while AI brain decoding is in its very early stages, it proves to be a reliable resource that could be highly useful in the future, and will help make the world healthier, safer, and happier for all.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse