November 22, 2017

Brain Implants Boost Memory for First Time Ever

November 22, 2017/ BEYOND SCIENCE STAFF

Are we living in the Matrix or in a futuristic RoboCop world with cybernetic people?

Neurologists and high-tech engineers have joined forces to create what we thought was only science fiction: the BRAIN-BOOSTING IMPLANT. Specifically, this chip works on memory and can boost short-term memory by 15% and working memory by 25%.

Now students around the world can study less and spend more time on Facebook... Actually, scientists intend to use this technology to help people with memory problems like Alzheimer's and other degenerative brain diseases.

The University of Southern California (USC) seems to believe this is a step towards a bright cybernetic future. Professor Dong Song presented this “memory prosthesis” at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington D.C. as the first of its kind to improve human memory.

20 volunteers allowed Song's team to implant electrodes into their brains to treat epilepsy and he collected their brain activity data during memory exercises. The research team found the pattern for best memory function and stimulated the electrodes with it during future tests. These showed 15% and 25% memory improvements over no stimulation and even more so over random stimulation.

Song said “We are writing the neural code to enhance memory function. This has never been done before.”

Worth It?

The cost to deal with memory disabilities in the US cost $236 billion in 2016, plus the emotional stress of family members helping their loved ones. Financially, it seems totally worth implanting a small device to prevent or reduce the debilitating effects of memory loss.

However, what about the slippery slope of cybernetic enhancements and technological control over our lives? Would it be wise to implant something in your brain that can monitor and even control your thoughts? Can such devices really stay offline for privacy?

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are talking about cybernetic brain enhancements and mind reading A.I. but the potential dangers are quite obvious to those with even the same level of imagination as those that dreamt up these technologies in the first place. So why be tempted to stray away from natural solutions rather than towards new shiny double-edged artificial swords? Do you really want to live under an artificially intelligent supercomputer than governs your daily life and that can punish you wirelessly instantly?

It's ironic that in trying to improve our memory rushing towards technology, we may have actually forgotten who we are and what we are truly capable of.

Sources:

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/brain-implant-boosts-memory-first-time-ever-ncna821016

July 12, 2017

Top 7 Amazing Brain Foods

July 12, 2017/ Michael Chen

At some point or another, we’ve all tried to improve our diet, whether it was for health reasons, physical appearance, or both. We all aim to have that perfectly health lifestyle, but we often overlook the most complex organ in our body when considering what foods to eat. Our brain is in control not just of our thoughts and feelings, but breathing, heartbeat, senses, and much more. Increasingly more scientific research is showing that what we eat every day actually has a huge impact on our brain functions, affecting our moods, cravings, and overall mental health! The brain is always active, even when we are asleep, and requires a lot of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to stay well-nourished and happy. What are the best brain foods you ask? Well, here are 6 of the best foods for maintaining a healthy mind and body!

Hemp Seed & Oil

Our brains actually require cannabinoids, which regulate most of the primary functions in our body including alertness, memory function, emotions, inflammation and cancer defenses. We can produce some of our own cannabinoids but perform best when consuming more from foods like hemp. Hemp's nutritional composition of its oil and protein contain all of the essential amino acids our body needs and in a uniquely perfect ratio (3.5:1~4:1) with over 400 phytonutrients.

Shelled hemp seed contains 33% pure digestible protein and is rich in iron and vitamin E as well as omega-3 and GLA. A recent report funded by the Canadian government states that hemp protein is comprised of 66% high-quality edistin protein and that hemp seed contains the highest percentage of this from any plant source in the world. Hemp also contains 3x more vitamin E than flax.

Turmeric

Turmeric is the bright yellow aromatic powder from the ginger family and is usually used for flavoring and coloring, and as a spice in Asian cuisines, especially India, like curry. Turmeric contains the anti-inflammatory antioxidant curcumin which acts as a neuroprotective agent against numerous neurological disorders. Research has shown that it acts as protection for your brain against Alzheimer’s disease. India, which uses turmeric as an ingredient for their common food, is known to have the lowest rates of dementia in the world. Health experts believe that this is because of their consumption of turmeric as part of their daily diet in their lifetime.

Curcumin has even been shown to boost memory and stimulate the production of new brain cells, a process known as neurogenesis in which the nervous tissues grow and develop. Curcumin also reverses some biochemical changes made within an aging brain. It binds to heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, and iron, and by doing so, there will be a counteraction to any of the neurotoxic effects these metals may give to our brains.

Blueberries

According to Steven Pratt, MD (author of Superfoods Rx: Fourteen Foods Proven to Change Your Life), blueberries help protect the brain from oxidative stress and reduce the chances of having Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Blueberries are one of the highest antioxidant-rich foods which include vitamin C, vitamin K, and fiber where all are responsible for capturing radicals that damage our cells in the brain to boost and regulate the blood and oxygen flow. Other than destroying these radicals, they rejuvenate brain cells to protect our brains from degeneration and stress, and from the adverse effects of a non-healthy diet like high blood pressure.

Walnuts

Walnuts are a good source of antioxidants, fibres, iron, magnesium, vitamin E, and omega-3s which are all essential for brain development and growth. The human brain is made of 60% structural fat so it requires high-quality fats like omega-3s, particularly DHA, to keep the brain fluid and flexible.

Research says that walnuts are the best nuts for improving cognitive performances, and prevent age-related illnesses. A research study at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center was conducted to study the lifestyle habits of 6,000 people who were unaffected by Alzheimer’s. It was found that those who have the most intake of vitamin E-rich foods have a lesser chances of developing diseases that are memory and age-related. Maybe there’s a reason walnuts kind of look like our brains….

Avocados

Nowadays, avocados are made into spreads, jams, sandwiches and even ice cream! It is indeed a fatty fruit but it actually contains a monosaturated fat (healthy fat) and helps in regulating a healthy blood flow because it decreases LDL cholesterol – the bad cholesterol – and increases the HDL cholesterol – the good cholesterol – This prevents the hardening of blood vessels. According to a review published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience in 2008, some nutrients, like folate, that are found in avocados can also improve one’s memory and concentration. Another study done in Oregon State University Linus Pauling Institute has suggested that folate reduces the risk of a stroke.

Coconut Oil

If you noticed, coconut oil is often mentioned when talking about at-home healing methods. It’s almost as if there is nothing that coconut oil cannot do! According to a research by Dr. Mary Newport, just over two tablespoons of coconut oil (about 35 ml or seven level teaspoons) will help in restoring and renewing neurons, and nerve functions in the brain. Coconut oil consists of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) that convert the oil inside the body to ketones. Ketones are what fuel our brains. The MCT we put into our bodies go directly to our liver to release the newly-converted oil to energy

Coconut oil also works as a natural anti-inflammatory food. It helps prevent memory loss or any age-related illnesses or disorders, and destroys bad bacteria that stay in our stomach organs.

Dark Chocolates

You might have started to worry that none of these foods will satisfy your taste buds but luckily, chocolate can actually be beneficial to our brain health. Dark chocolate is packed with magnesium which increases the production of endorphins and serotonin, and flavonols, which is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. A study published in Neurology found that dark chocolate decreased blood pressure, and could even lower the chances of having a stroke by 17%!It also contains small amounts of caffeine to improve mental alertness and short-term memory which is why a lot of students also eat dark chocolate while studying.

So those were some of the best foods for a healthy brain. Other superfoods include: eggs, sea vegetables, fermented foods, and leafy greens. It’s imperative to be conscious of the foods that we eat, because they can have a much bigger impact on our bodies than we realize. And remember, having a healthy body also means having a healthy brain!

References:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/eat-smart-healthier-brain#2
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/01/12/top-7-brain-foods.aspx
http://www.rd.com/health/conditions/best-brain-food/
http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/01/13/brain-needs-cannabinoids-dietary-hemp-answer/
https://www.420magazine.com/forums/hemp-news/77372-hemp-perfect-brain-health-food.html

June 16, 2017

What is Deja Vu?

June 16, 2017/ Michael Chen

Did you ever get that odd and unsettling feeling or sense that you’ve been in an exact situation before? Or you’ve already experienced something that you know for certain you are doing for the very first time? Have you ever felt that overwhelming sense of familiarity with something that you shouldn’t be familiar with at all?

What is Déjà vu?

This phenomenon is called “déjà vu,” which in French literally means “already seen.” Essentially, it is a sensation that something we’re experiencing at the moment has happened before, whether it’s just a single element such as a taste, a sight or a sound, or whether it’s an entire sequence of events. Déjà vu is a common intuitive feeling that has happened to around 60 to 70 percent of people, and it occurs more frequently to people between 15 and 25 years old compared to any other age group.

Déjà vu is a rather complex phenomenon, and like many unusual phenomena involving the brain, it has yet to be fully understood. There is much speculation as to how and why this phenomenon occurs in people. To many parapsychologists, this occurs when things and experience from our past lives merge with our present life. Several psychoanalysts, on the other hand, attribute the phenomenon to nothing more than simple fantasy and wish fulfillment of our desires and dreams.

Then, there’s the psychological standpoint, which generally considers déjà vu to be caused by a memory mismatch that in turn, causes people to feel that they’ve already experienced a specific event that they know is completely novel to them. Though not fully proven, some experts in the field generally agree that déjà vu occurs because of a communication issue between the short term and long term memory, a rare occurrence that functions like a circuit break.

Although the actual cause of déjà vu has yet to be confirmed by science, there are many different theories that attempt to explain how it happens, and they each have interesting implications for the mechanisms of the human brain. For those who are fascinated by this phenomenon and want to try to get to the bottom of this psychological mystery, here are three psychological theories that have been proposed to explain déjà vu!

Causes of Déjà Vu: Dual Processing Theory [False Memories]

One theory suggests that déjà vu is caused by memories failing to form correctly in the brain. This theory is called “dual processing,” and it is the most widely accepted take on this mysterious phenomenon among psychologists. The dual processing theory is based on the way the human brain processes new information and how it stores short-term and long-term memories. Essentially, the theory holds that déjà vu happens when two cognitive processes are momentarily out of sync.

In 1963, Robert Efron at the Veterans Hospital in Boston tested his proposed idea that a delayed neurological response is what causes déjà vu. According to him, because information enters the processing centers of the brain via more than a single path, it is likely that there are instances that the blending of information might not synchronize correctly.

In testing his theory, not only did he find the temporal lobe of the brain’s left hemisphere to be responsible for sorting incoming information, he also discovered that the temporal lobe receives this incoming information twice, but with a milliseconds-long delay between transmission. The information arrives once directly, and a second time after its detour through the right hemisphere of the brain. Should the second transmission get delayed by just slightly longer, then the brain might put a later timestamp on that information and consider it as a different memory from the previous memory already processed by the first transmission. This neurological delay is what could possibly explain the sudden sense of familiarity people feel on certain experiences or events.

Causes of Déjà Vu: ‘Divided Attention’ Theory

Another theory suggests that déjà vu could be triggered by things that we have seen subliminally but we just haven’t registered on a conscious level yet. Called “divided attention,” this theory relies on the brain’s inability to focus on all things at once, which means it has the tendency to momentarily “forget” about other actions or events that are happening in real-time.

According to this theory, it is not necessary for people to actually have experienced an event or a stimulus in the past for déjà vu to occur. Instead, divided attention theory tells us that when we are first exposed to a situation and we are momentarily distracted by something else such as a thought or a sight, this causes us not to pay attention to what’s going on around us. While we may not have consciously taken note of what was happening to our surroundings at the time, we have, however, taken it in unconsciously. But as we regain awareness, the entire sequence of events rushes back to us as eerily familiar, as if our memory is convincing us that we’ve been there before – which we kind-of have, in a way.

Causes of Déjà Vu: ‘Hologram’ Theory

The last theory that we will be discussing is the ‘hologram theory’. Dutch psychiatrist Herman Sno proposed the idea that memories are like holograms, which means that a person can recreate the entire three-dimensional image from any fragment of the whole.

Based on his reasoning, human memories are so interlinked with each other that experiencing just a single fragment is enough for a person’s brain to reconstruct an entire multi-sensory memory. However, there is a caveat to the brain’s automatic process of “filling in the blanks” – and that is, the smaller the fragment, the fuzzier the ultimate picture or scene will be.

According to Sno, déjà vu happens when certain details in the current environment we are in – be it sight, sound, smell or something else – resembles some remnant memory in our past, and our brain recreates a complete picture or an entire scene from that fragment alone. This could be particularly confusing if our memory of that past event is either vague or incomplete since the brain would just have to put in other bits of information to complete the picture, even if the added memory isn’t actually our own. This brings out a feeling of familiarity as well as the powerful sensation of reliving a forgotten memory which in turn could trigger the experience of déjà vu.

And so, based on this theory, you could experience déjà vu when picking up a can just because the feeling of the metal is the same as the bike handle that you once had, or when you go to a restaurant and saw a table cloth without actually remembering that your grandmother also had the same one on her dining table when you were just a small child.

Although déjà vu has been extensively studied as a phenomenon for over a century, and researchers have come up with dozens of advanced theories about its cause, there is no specific theory that claims to be the 100% accurate answer to this mystery. Until now, we can honestly say that there is no simple explanation for how exactly how déjà vu works and why it happens.

Perhaps sometime in the near future – when our technology is advanced enough and we have learned more thoroughly about how the brain works – will we finally be able to unlock the compelling secrets behind this strange phenomenon.

Sources:

https://youtu.be/foVMwJtlR5s

https://youtu.be/nFAvUkjba-Q

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/17131/1/What-Causes-Deja-Vu.html

http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/extrasensory-perceptions/question657.htm

http://www.brainfacts.org/about-neuroscience/ask-an-expert/articles/2014/what-causes-deja-vu/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/03/15/why-we-get-deja-vu_n_9463818.html

http://listverse.com/2016/06/19/10-fascinating-theories-to-explain-deja-vu/

Dual Processing Theory

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/17131/1/What-Causes-Deja-Vu.html

https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200503/been-there-done

http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/deja-vu4.htm