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Nobel Prize For Medicine Awarded For "Brain GPS" Research
Dave Knott writes U.S.-British scientist John O'Keefe and Norwegian married couple May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discovering the "inner GPS" that helps the brain navigate through the world. O'Keefe, currently director of the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre in Neural Circuits and Behaviour at University College London, discovered the first component of this system in 1971 when he found that a certain type of nerve cell was always activated when a rat was at a certain place in a room. He demonstrated that these "place cells" were building up a map of the environment, not just registering visual input. Thirty-four years later, the Mosers, of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, identified another type of nerve cell — the "grid cell" — that generates a coordinate system for precise positioning and path-finding, These findings on rats — and research suggests humans have the same system in their brains — represent a paradigm shift in our knowledge of how cells work together to perform cognitive functions and could help scientists understand the mechanisms behind Alzheimer's disease.
Heard about this on NPR during the morning drive and how the "place cells" were found 30 years ago and how that researcher's students found "grid cells" recently to complete the picture. The most intriguing part of the story was the expectation of the impact that this discovery will have on the world of philosophy, as it now it know that our brains have a physical (mathematically based and similar to a computer) mechanism for knowing where we are in 3D space. They also discussed while no practical use or 'cures' are on the immediate horizon, this is apparently the first brain function to go with the onset of Alzheimer's and may lead to greater understanding.
We already have mind control capabilities of varying levels effectiveness. Pharmacological mind control, that we use quite effectively to control the symptoms of mental illness. Manipulative mind control that have been researched to hell and back for the sake of advertisement, down to small percentage changes in apparent mood from different colors of logos. Or bog standard brainwashing techniques that have existed from the beginning of time used by cults and schools and religions and multi-level-marketting schemes.
What you're perceiving is some arbitrarily electronic or arbitrarily precise level of mind control. Just because what we have now doesn't look super-duper sci-fi doesn't mean it's not another person controlling your mind. You've just internalized it as something you can ignore or resist.
Helping treat and/or reverse Alzheimer's is bound to please some people.
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TPTB, under the guise of research and helping the blind or other some shit want control over the entire brain for ultimate control. You don't have to spend a day at RECALL to understand this and connect the fucking dots.
Although for the number of discoveries we've had so far that claimed "may help to understand/treat Alzheimer's", you would think it would have gone the way of smallpox by now.
Just saying...
Derp. Those are both also already possible to a degree.
It's not pedantry to point out that your imagined "profound" changes in technology are, at best, minor, gradual changes.
I was present at a talk where the PI first presented these findings a number of years ago, at least I think it was this guy. Turns out the person who actually figured it out was a physics-oriented student who was doing a stint in the lab. I think this is an excellent example of how the future of discovery lies in interdisciplinary collaboration, needing people from various disciplines working closely together to forge ahead. Indeed, many of the top universities have recognized this, which is why they are naming their new science buildings "integrated" this or that.
If I had to be more specific, I would say the future of discovery in the biological and chemical fields lies in people who are skilled physicists and mathematicians as well. I wish I had focused more on those two disciplines before branching off myself. If there was any advice I'd give to budding scientists, it would be to act like you are a physics major with a math minor, in addition to everything else you are majoring in, if you want to be the best at what you do. Oh, and learn to code!
Perhaps learning to express your thoughts more clearly in communication to others, will help to diminish the episodes in quantity and/or intensity where you get upset at "pedantic little faggots" for not smelling what you mean.
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
...I don't need to stop and ask for directions.
Sheesh!
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
He probably just needs a couple of those mind control pills.
Although for the number of discoveries we've had so far that claimed "may help to understand/treat Alzheimer's", you would think it would have gone the way of smallpox by now.
The first effective treatment for smallpox, variola inoculation, was developed during the Song Dynasty in 10th Century China. The last active case of smallpox, in Somalia in 1973, was a thousand years later. Things take time.
I don't understand why the press keep referring to this as a "GPS". We all know that we build a mental map of our surroundings; the science they did was figuring out how different parts of the brain work together to build, store, and use that map. But I suppose GPS sounds better than a Dead Reckoning system, which is what it really is.
Helping treat and/or reverse Alzheimer's is bound to please some people.
Except they have nothing like that, all they have is an early indicator of Alzheimer's. That is of course useful, but since we've got neither a cure nor any useful treatments to counteract the effects that alone won't do much. It's a major achievement in decoding how the mind works though.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
It's worth keeping in mind the important differences, and that we've only wiped out smallpox and rinderpest, although hopefully polio will follow shortly. Also, the identification and degree of concern for Alzheimer's disease are fairly recent, as expanded lifespans make it a more relevant issue. Also, I would say that we are a lot further behind in regards to brain science/psychology than we are in regards to general immune function.
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Nah, he's a pedantic little faggot. It's a meme apparently around here.
To the degree you're a pedantic little faggot perhaps.
Although for the number of discoveries we've had so far that claimed "may help to understand/treat Alzheimer's", you would think it would have gone the way of smallpox by now.
The first effective treatment for smallpox, variola inoculation, was developed during the Song Dynasty in 10th Century China. The last active case of smallpox, in Somalia in 1973, was a thousand years later. Things take time.
Doing the right thing takes time.
Greed and corruption get fast-tracked. For obvious reasons.
Have gnu, will travel.
While place and grid cells have been identified in the brain, we still have no idea how those functions are computed (people in my group and many others are working on this problem). We don't yet know how these representations are combined with our sensory experiences to form episodic memories (again, there are hypotheses, but no standard theory exists). There's no question that O'Keefe and the Mosers deserve the prize, but their work literally represents the mere beginning of this line of research.
...like accessing memories and implanting them is soon going to be possible.
I know, it's about time, isn't it? Humanity has been held back so much over the past millennia without any way to record in our brains information about observed events and then access them at some later time. Just imagine all of the incredible scientific breakthroughs we'll be able to accomplish once we manage this long-overdue feat.
> any way to record in our brains information about observed events and then access them at some later time
We have only had approximations and external sensors. Once we get the granularity of mental function down, humanity will quickly homogenize and then either wipe itself out (robots/syndrome) or expand (no need for the meatshells to travel between stars). Hopefully the latter before the former.
So here we are with an internal matrix supposing that the reality that we live in is also some giant matrix. What'a a poor boy to do?
I wonder how much this has to do with the brains ability to build 'Memory Palaces'. I was at a conference recently where an engineer spoke (significantly off the programming topics we were there to discuss) about how memory athletes actually do what they do. Essentially Athletes use the ability to memorize places that are common to us (our homes, walks to work, etc) to guide the brains ability to remember long sequences of information. For example - a common party trick using this technique is to memorize a shuffled deck of cards. It's even possible to use compression in the techniques.
Anyway - perhaps this sheds some light on how that's possible.
I'm sure that some will see this as inappropriate, but I wonder if research will eventually discover that men and women have slightly different mechanisms for location mapping in their brains...
Another Nobel Prize for something that could be useful.
http://blog.sethroberts.net/20...