Scientists extract images directly from brain

[phantom power]

Researchers from Japan’s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have developed new brain analysis technology that can reconstruct the images inside a person’s mind and display them on a computer monitor, it was announced on December 11. According to the researchers, further development of the technology may soon make it possible to view other people’s dreams while they sleep.

The scientists were able to reconstruct various images viewed by a person by analyzing changes in their cerebral blood flow. Using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine, the researchers first mapped the blood flow changes that occurred in the cerebral visual cortex as subjects viewed various images held in front of their eyes. Subjects were shown 400 random 10 x 10 pixel black-and-white images for a period of 12 seconds each. While the fMRI machine monitored the changes in brain activity, a computer crunched the data and learned to associate the various changes in brain activity with the different image designs.

Then, when the test subjects were shown a completely new set of images, such as the letters N-E-U-R-O-N, the system was able to reconstruct and display what the test subjects were viewing based solely on their brain activity.

For now, the system is only able to reproduce simple black-and-white images. But Dr. Kang Cheng, a researcher from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, suggests that improving the measurement accuracy will make it possible to reproduce images in color.

“These results are a breakthrough in terms of understanding brain activity,” says Dr. Cheng. “In as little as 10 years, advances in this field of research may make it possible to read a person’s thoughts with some degree of accuracy.”

http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/12/scientists-extract-images-directly-from-brain/

[murray hill farm]

1. WOW!

Now that is really, really exciting.

[phantom power]

2. That was one of those results that left me envious. I wish I'd done it.

[roguevalley]

14. if it can determine if people in vegetative states are truly there, good.

but you know everything like this is weaponized. :(

[Realityhack]

23. WTF does this have to do with vegitative states?

And what is this about weaponization?

[Posteritatis]

27. I think he might be vegetative and locked-in states

The former are gone as people (and are usually obvious on a typical scan or the like); the latter aren't, and things like this would be nothing short of a godsend for them.

[roguevalley]

33. simple. if people can't put forward images, then they probably

aren't still there, alive. as for weapons, this can be used against people as well as for them. reading minds can be used against you.

vegitative-- vegEtative

[LynzM]

3. Wow.

That's both exciting and scary!

[Dangerously Amused]

4. Little known fact:

They used George W. Bush for a baseline reading of one who viewed the world around him, yet registered no brain activity.

Seriously though, this is cool. And a little scary.

[elfin]

5. Similar to something

on "Fringe" last week. Fun show.

[rrneck]

6. Before long they will be able to roll out the latest car key location device. n/t

[dkf]

7. Interesting. How long before our own brains are used to

convict us. Kind of scary.

[phantom power]

8. I question whether that could ever happen without subject cooperation...

One issue I believe is fundamental to this kind of technology is that each person's brain is unique, and the particulars of our internal thought/memory encodings are unique. You notice that they have to train the machine learning end of it on the subject, before they can use it. Each individual would have to submit to that kind of training process, before their thoughts could be read.

The other big issue would be something more portable and unobtrusive than fMRI.

Of course, one could imagine some kind of authoritarian state where citizens are forced to participate in such training.

[Indenturedebtor]

9. I don't know that training will always be necessary

Basic sensory systems are to my knowledge pretty standard for all people without any handicaps/abnormalities. As a matter of fact our visual cortex works pretty much the same was as it does in cats and other mammals. The first discovery that the visual cortex actually creates a representative map of what you see was made using cat brains.

Sure there will be differences in every individual, but when enough individuals have been tested, and the technology has advanced sufficiently calibration might not be necessary.

[Hissyspit]

12. Cameras are like eyeballs.

Brains are like computers.

Our mind's eye is like a bitmap?

The human race has been on a continuous journey to discover how to build another version, a metaphor essentially, of itself.

While the green you see is not the same green I see, because our eyeballs are individual, they are close enough so that essentially they are the same. W.J.T. Mitchell in "Iconology" divided images into classes: graphic, optical, perceptual, mental, and verbal. But they are all images and thus and can conceivably translate between each other.

[Indenturedebtor]

15. I'm not familiar with Mitchel. Is he a philosopher or a psychologist? n/t

[Hissyspit]

16. Art Historian and Linguist.

I teach art history and painting and digital arts and spend a lot of time talking about semiology and symbols, of course.

I did not realize this, but googling him I just found out he is the editor of 'Critical Inquiry.'

[Indenturedebtor]

18. I like all of those things

I really enjoyed art history, and I also enjoyed reading some of Carl Jung's work. He's often refered to as a Psychologist though most consider him to be more of a Philosopher. Psychology and Philosophy are both wonderful in their own ways but I think it's an important distinction between empericism and logical thought excercises.

Anyways Jung was a perfectly dreadful psychologist, but an excellent symbology guy. If you're interested in both you might check out some of his books.

[Hissyspit]

17. I remember reading an article on why voice recognition technology would never be feasible.

The argument was that there were too many differences in peoples individual voices.

Within a few years of my reading it, the first voice recognition software was being made use of.

[Jamastiene]

10. Uhm...

:tinfoilhat:

Can ya read my mind now, scientists?

:P

[Hissyspit]

11. Holy shit.

Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUa3np4CKC4

And read this: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Feed/M-T-Anderson/e/9780763622596/?itm=1

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Oh man, I am a little bit freaked over that. It's cool, but scary

[tblue37]

19. ANd then the NSA will find a way to tap that and really get the goods

on all of us.

[Realityhack]

21. By sneaking up on you with an MRI machine? n/t

[anigbrowl]

41. I hear they use typewriters and stuff too. We must smash them all.

Even if they end up being able to read thoughts by satellite, most of them will be get filed under 'paranoid and frustrated'.

[pepperbear]

20. if we can eventually read the mind, wouldn't it stand to reason that we'll be able to

write the mind as well?

[Realityhack]

22. Well certainly not with the same technique.

but it raises interesting possibilities. Notice that they had to train the system to recognize how the blood flow in a given individual corresponded to sample images before getting usable results. They are not even reading electrical activity, just the blood flow side effect.
I think that remains well into the sci-fi maybe someday... theoretically... depending on... etc. category.

[truedelphi]

32. Newsweek had an article back in 2001 or 2002 about vending machines

That could send out subliminal messages - like 'Hot day. Wouldn't a cold drink right now feel great."

[gtar100]

35. I think we have that capability already. Machine intervention not required.

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. They would have been eight years ahead of the research,

but they were using Bush's brain as a test subject and they kept turning up nothing. It took them that long to figure out that the machine's reading was accurate.

[Orrex]

25. Very cool

I would love to see this technology reversed as a way to bypass blindness.

[Posteritatis]

29. I think artificial retinas/etc are a different avenue

There's been some great stuff done with those in the last few years; there's a few people walking around now with admittedly-rudimentary artificial vision again. It's usually a fairly small (4x4, 16x16, etc) grid of black and white or greyscale pixels, but that's still tremendous given the alternative. It's more or less a matter of working on the resolution now.

This looks like it's more about output as opposed to those, which deal with input. Truly awesome things, but they're both dealing with pretty distinct processes.

[Orrex]

30. Bah! Spare me your facts and reality!

I'm trying to build a cyber-super-suit over here!

[hootinholler]

26. Yeah but still no flying cars!

We were promised flying cars!

This is scary in the hands of the CIA.

-Hoot

[Posteritatis]

28. One step closer to my brain-to-Photoshop interface.. (nt)

[Cults4Bush]

31. Until The End Of The World???

Spooky and neat!

[formercia]

34. Is that a fuzzy wuzzy

or does someone need Bikini Wax?

[sakabatou]

37. All I know it has nothing to do with bears.

[lovuian]

36. Wow now why would they want to read your mind

what purpose

[anigbrowl]

40. Keep your 'they'. I would like to do it, for myself.

Additionally, I can think of a wide range of medical applications. Someone give this to Stephen Hawking right now, but install a porn filter on his internet so he gets work done.

[angryfirelord]

38. In other news

Sales of tin foil reach an all time high.

[anigbrowl]

39. Fascinating! by a strange coincidence...

the first ever copy of Nature I got (and the last for a long time, because it was mostly waaaay too technical for me) had a news item about one of these scientists a decade or so ago, when they were in the early stages and working with the optic nerves of cats. I often wondered how that was progressing but couldn't remember the names of the individuals and din't want to pay for a journal lookup.

Anyway, this is fucking awesome. Also sort of scary, but mostly awesome. I have always wanted to be able to record parts of my mental activity including dreams. Hope this gets into my hands before my brain starts to deteriorate.