Today's Hot Topic: Science moves a step closer to mind reading

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

Are you comfortable with the idea of researching mind reading?  Why or why not?  How do you think this kind of advancement could be used for good?  for bad? 

Science moves a step closer to mind reading

Scanner measuring blood flow can 'read' spatial memories

Reuters

updated 6:42 p.m. MT, Thurs., March. 12, 2009

LONDON - Scientists have shown for the first time that it may be possible to "read" a person's mind simply by looking at brain activity.

Using a modern scanner to measure blood flow, British researchers said on Thursday they were able to tell where volunteers were located within a computer-generated virtual reality environment.

"Surprisingly, just by looking at the brain data we could predict exactly where they were," Eleanor Maguire of the Wellcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging at University College London told reporters.

"In other words, we could 'read' their spatial memories."

The discovery opens up the possibility of developing machines to read a range of memories, although Maguire said the risk of "intrusive" mind reading was still a long way off.

Instead, she believes the discovery, reported in the journal Cell Biology, will help research into memory disorders such as Alzheimer's by shedding light on how the hippocampus region of the brain records memories.

Maguire and colleagues used a technology known as functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, which highlights brain regions as they become active.

By scanning the brains of people as they played a virtual reality computer game they were able to measure the activity of certain neurons in the hippocampus, a region known to be critical for navigation and memory.

The research paves the way for analyzing how other thoughts — including fuller memories of the past or visualizations of the future — are encoded across neurons.

That could eventually mean using fMRI for forensic examination of a whole host of memories and thoughts, opening up a potential ethical can of worms.

For the moment, however, the technology only works with willing volunteers and fellow researcher Demis Hassabis said it would be at least 10 years before forensic applications became a possibility.

"It's a long way off before that kind of technology is going be possible where you can read someone's thoughts in a single short session, when they don't want to be cooperative," he said.

\The Cafe Group Admin Team

[blunudle]

As long as it is being used for good, not evil.......

[luchousdiva]

I say it would be good if it was going to be used for good only but you know somewhere down the line someone horrible will get ahold to it and then we will regret the day that they ever figured this out. 

 

[floridamom27]

If a government is involved, then it sounds like a case of big brother to me.....

[dr_m]

i think it's exciting, the knowledge that is, .. however,like other advances i science i am sure it can  be used for unethical purposes..   maybe we can use it on the terror detainees..  see where bnladen is .....

 

[mom_wrhsc]

As exciting as it sounds, if government is involved, I'd be concerned. I think we were all born with this ability but for reasons not known to us we forgot how to use it. Maybe a good thing:)

[luna513]

Quoting mom_wrhsc:

As exciting as it sounds, if government is involved, I'd be concerned. I think we were all born with this ability but for reasons not known to us we forgot how to use it. Maybe a good thing:)

I agree!! I think it would be a scary job.(It's bad enough to imagine what someone else is thinking) That's 1 job I wouldn't want!! LOL

[JJTaylor]

Okay, I am going to be the off the wall conspiracy theorist regarding this subject. 
Whenever I hear of new scientific experiments being done with the human mind, regardless of using our own brains abilities or using the brain with medications it really leads me to believe that this kind of science has been around much longer then we have ever been lead to believe. It's proven that not only our government but other countries during war times have done some pretty strange and often times gross experiments on the human bodies.  Not claiming America was always cruel, but the Nazi's in general really did some horrific experiments to the people held in concentration camps.  History shows us that there has been many things that governments, ours included that have done some pretty crazy crap in the name of winning wars or the getting the upper hand.

That all being said, I think anything to do with our minds is extremely interesting as well as a bit un-nerving.  I like the idea of things that can potentially help society and possibly find cures or connections with certain illnesses that are so destructive to the human bodies.  It's a slippery slope, and if we allow this kind of science, we also unfortunately, have to accept there are nut cases out there in this world that will and have taken anything that scientifically was possibly created to help man kind and turn it into something horrible and destructive that can be used against man kind. 

But, I guess we have to already deal with that on a day to day basis.

[forsythia_18]

This is creepy.  The government already is slowly inching towards fascism.  We're going to all end up to zero rights of privacy (of course it'll be for the security of the American people).  this is frightening.