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Consciousness On-Off Switch Discovered Deep In Brain
An anonymous reader writes "One moment you're conscious, the next you're not. For the first time, researchers have switched off consciousness by electrically stimulating a single brain area. Although only tested in one person, the discovery suggests that a single area – the claustrum – might be integral to combining disparate brain activity into a seamless package of thoughts, sensations and emotions. It takes us a step closer to answering a problem that has confounded scientists and philosophers for millennia – namely how our conscious awareness arises. When the team zapped the area with high frequency electrical impulses, the woman lost consciousness. She stopped reading and stared blankly into space, she didn't respond to auditory or visual commands and her breathing slowed. As soon as the stimulation stopped, she immediately regained consciousness with no memory of the event. The same thing happened every time the area was stimulated during two days of experiments.
That sounds like the experiments that my wife has been doin
A bullet may have your name on it, but artillery is addressed to " Whom It May concern"
Citizen, you will be implanted with this brain massager free of charge. Please do not attempt to remove this device. That is all.
Karnal
...did it also coincide with the TV being turned on?
Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
I see lots of new and exciting things happen in the world of neurology and such. Are these things directly stemming from the Human Brain Project? How do we know what successes have come out of that program?
So we have a bunch of male scientists who apparently didn't know about rufies.
#DeleteChrome
so, any idea how long your brain just went off?
But needs deep brain electodes so I guess it wont be easy to pull off .. But with advances in implant devices , zzz (shivers )
If it can be employed in surgery (putting aside the current implant requirement) it would be a surgical boon (might not be so good for anesthesiologists ;>)
Wow, if we discover the exact region and mechanism for how consciousness emerges from brain activity, then this, in my mind, is the final nail in the coffin of the Soul Hypothesis ( the religious explanation for consciousness being external to the brain, and as something that survives death ).
Of course, the religionists will carp on about how this study is all a big conspiracy with science finding or some other claptrap, but for the rest of us, this could be a major discovery!
I particularly liked the manner in which the writer jumped from something as complex as the human brain developing consciousness to wondering if robots have the same function. He should be lobotomized.
From TFA:
Anil Seth, who studies consciousness at the University of Sussex, UK, warns that we have to be cautious when interpreting behaviour from a single case study. The woman was missing part of her hippocampus, which was removed to treat her epilepsy, so she doesn't represent a "normal" brain, he says.
Normally a scientist will not ethically be able to put deep brain electrodes in a person, but this was likely part of a larger experiment related to the hippocampus surgery. It will be interesting to see if similar cases present similar behaviors and more interesting if the same thing happens in someone with a full hippocampus.
I have been experimenting with this technique since the early 80s. It is possible to stimulate the claustrum via pressure along the sternocleidomastoid. By pinching this area it causes sympathetic nerve activity that can effective render someone unconscious. My colleague has perfected the technique to the point that he uses it at parties. Quite eerie, actually.
Peace. Stay healthy and have a long life..
Yeah, but the surgery is (usually) gonna hurt like blazes the instant the signal is stopped!
Cloned foods give the statement "We had that last week!" a whole new meaning.
Ever heard of "Pause"? LOL
Cloned foods give the statement "We had that last week!" a whole new meaning.
Neuralizers! Men in Black is the new Star Trek.
I don't know, should we find it *what* exactly, you didn't really state that. Surprising? No, it's not, that's indeed the survival instinct taking over. In general your breathing is not conscious, although we have conscious control unlike for example your heart. But in general it's not possible for example to hold your breath until you are dead. There are some ways to hold your breath until you pass out, but the moment you do you start breathing again. (All this AFAIK)
Whenever survival is at stake, consciousness is among the first wasters of valuable resources (energy) to be turned off, or at least substantially modified.. This is a principle, AFAIK.
"Neat. Could be used during surgeries instead of anesthesia, or could be weaponized to disable enemy combatants."
Nobody would want that. You want to wound (not kill) the enemy soldiers, to bind enemy medics, food, transportation, logistics, field hospitals, pensions and lower morale.
If you zap them and go away, they will still be there fighting against you. If you take them prisoner, it's YOU who has to provide medics, food, transportation, logistics, field hospitals and get plenty of bad publicity on top.
They zapped a part of her brain that had the effect of stopping conscious thought. I suppose that meets the definition, but it sounds more like they overwhelmed her normal brain function rather than shut it off.
Direct access to unconsciousness brain part ?
What is next ?
- flashing new ideas/learning skills like Neo.... or brainwashing/propaganda...
- or cheap and instant medical anesthesia, nonlethal cop weapons, alternative to rape drugs...
- clearing out what is in your consciousness and not in your long-term memory yet, like in Men-in-Black...
Choose one. Ok, all.
Imagine what could happen if it were conveniently located on your back!
Ezekiel 23:20
These studies clearly demonstrate that the Cl is richly innervated with a wide and diverse array of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Lesion, stimulation and recording experiments demonstrate that the functional and physiologic capacity of the Cl is quite robust. A recurring theme of claustral function appears to be its involvement in sensorimotor integration. This may be expected of the Cl, given the degree of heterotopic, heterosensory convergence and its interconnectivity with the key subcortical nuclei and sensory cortical areas. The Cl remains a poorly understood and under investigated nucleus.
It makes sense that a major loss of function is associated with interrupting the Claustrum - but there are several nuclii in the brain - the Hippocampus being one. Claiming it is the 'one true center of consciousness' in the brain doesn't account for the countless studies which reveal just how complex the operation of our neural networks actually are, and may be premature.
References
[1]The claustrum: a historical review of its anatomy, physiology, cytochemistry and functional significance. Edelstein LR1, Denaro FJ.
So, how well does this finding fit with the Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I...
I'm pretty sure I've seen devices like this in science fiction shows. Though absent a very high quality auto-targetting, I can't see the real one having any use against an unwilling subject. I wonder if it also causes short-term memory loss?
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
Neat. Could be used during surgeries instead of anesthesia, or could be weaponized to disable enemy combatants.
Sure, just capture them and subject them to brain surgery for the implant, then turn them lose so you can capture them easier next time.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Sounds like all the more reason to keep wearing my Tin Foil Hat!
This is a non-story. One subject? Really? Let's seen an actual study with multiple subjects and some deeper analysis into what might be going on. As it stands this is a non-story.
or should we say, Zap Brainnigan?
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That's the Zzz spot, not the G spot.
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"When the team zapped the area with high frequency electrical impulses, the woman lost consciousness. "
Tazers!
Having seen someone faint at the sight of blood (the lights went out instantaneously and they hit the floor like a sack of potatoes) this woman's experience doesn't quite match what I saw. The woman seemed still to have muscle tone to remain sitting upright. So this suspension of some sort of executive control/awareness/conscious experience needs a different name.
The NewScientist article said "To confirm that they were affecting the woman's consciousness rather than just her ability to speak or move, the team asked her to repeat the word "house" or snap her fingers before the stimulation began. If the stimulation was disrupting a brain region responsible for movement or language she would have stopped moving or talking almost immediately. Instead, she gradually spoke more quietly or moved less and less until she drifted into unconsciousness."
So, she wasn't having conscious experience but wasn't unsconscious. The NS article also talked about being awake but unconscious, which doesn't fit the sack of potatoes unconsciousness.
work in progress
Hey GOP, leave Lois Lerner alone already!
Table-ized A.I.
Where does the soul end and where does the funk begin?
Girl: Did I fall asleep?
Doctor: For a little while.
Girl: Shall I go now.
Doctor: If you like.
Turns out that a lot of people, if you hit them on the point of their chin they lose consciousness. Most will lose consciousness with a simple tap to the temple. Seems like an easier off-switch to me.
It turns out that self-awareness is an illusion of a couple of smallish blobs in your brain, without which you would be no smarter than the average computer? Seems like it ought not to be terribly difficult to make a computer think it's self aware too, then.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Perhaps they could use this information to try an investigation of how anesthetics work with a narrower scope, giving them a chance for a better understanding of what goes on with those drugs and the ability to make future anesthesia less dangerous.
It's called marriage.
Is responsible for creating consciousness INSIDE claustrum?
Forget the comedy - this might be an invention that could make long distance flying bearable! Turn off your brain after take off and back on for landing with no memory of many hours of sitting in a tin can in between.
What does that have to do with some idiot AC making accusations?
Think ( while you can ) at just how much this could be abused.
Thought: sleep learning/hypnosis. So can we put someone in an unconscious state, put suggestions in their head wake them and voila, brand new religious zealot?
"Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
Yes, expect this project to be transferred to military control. Who will devise a mechanism to broadcast this signal en masse. The government's wet dream, the ability to shut down instantly all humans at will.
No more combatants, no more riots, just turn them off...
"I would liken it to a car," he says. "A car on the road has many parts that facilitate its movement - the gas, the transmission, the engine - but there's only one spot where you turn the key and it all switches on and works together. So while consciousness is a complicated process created via many structures and networks - we may have found the key."
It was the highest post on the site without a reply, so he was assured of being seen without having to scroll down, that's what it has to do with an AC making accusations.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
In general your breathing is not conscious
It is now, jerk!
I don't know...let's give it a try.
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
Also, don't forget to blink. You wouldn't want your eyes to dry up!
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
This is pretty cool, and has some implications on inducing lucid dreams. I can't wait until this becomes a more refined process, would be awesome to lucid dream at will. Certainly something I'd pay good money for.
It would be interesting to see if this could be used as a replacement for surgical anesthesia. If so, no more adverse side effects, or the attendant risks that general anesthesia comes with.