
Immediate brain plasticity after one hour of brain–computer interface - rajnathani
https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1113/JP278118
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rajnathani
An article explaining parts of their result:
[https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-movements-
brains.html](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-movements-brains.html)

The implication for the use of this technology in the treatment of stroke and
rehabilitation:

> "The spatial specificity of the impacts achieved with BCI could be used to
> target those areas of the brain affected by strokes," explains Professor
> Arno Villringer, director of the neurology department at the MPI for Human
> Cognition and Brain Sciences. "Machine learning processes serve to decode or
> translate BCI activities into control signals," adds Professor Klaus-Robert
> Müller, professor of machine learning. "This is the only way to convert
> individual BCI activities into control signals without lengthy training
> periods. This customized reading of the BCI will be decisive in determining
> whether the technology can be used in rehabilitation systems in the future."

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abricot
So.. is "plasticity" a good or bad thing?

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WilliamEdward
It is both, it's a double-edged sword. On one hand, your brain can adapt very
quickly to new stimuli and adopt good or bad habits such as problem solving or
addiction. But, this quick adaptation also means you can 'unlearn' these
things very easily too.

That's my pop-sci understanding of plasticity, i picked it up when trying to
get rid of my bad habits.

~~~
deskamess
So if you could introduce a capability (via plasticity) and we keep practicing
it regularly over time does it become long term? If so, that would be a great
jump start.

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wruza
Like now we can really learn C++ in 21 days?

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glouwbug
For loops and if statements

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z9e
If anyone wants a great primer about neuroplasticity I recommend reading “The
brain that changes itself” by Dr Norman Doidge

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maroonblazer
In searching for the book I came across this hour-long documentary by the same
name that features the author.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFCOm1P_cQQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFCOm1P_cQQ)

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mikejarema
I'm interested in watching this, but the video seems to have been taken down:
"Video unavailable This video contains content from Octapixx, who has blocked
it in your country on copyright grounds."

Is this the same documentary? [https://www.dynamicbrain.ca/the-nature-of-
things.html](https://www.dynamicbrain.ca/the-nature-of-things.html)

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maroonblazer
It looks like it. Funnily those links are blocked for me (I'm in the U.S.)
whereas the YT link is not.

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mikejarema
Thanks. I'm Canada-based so it seems the issue is related to geo-restrictions.

Hopefully between the two links, everyone who wants to check this doc out is
covered.

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some1else
I also had immediate brain plasticity after being involved in a traumatic
experience.

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jorshman
This feels like evidence pointing to the future Dr. Miguel Nicolelis describes
in Beyond Boundaries (how quickly human brains can interpret new inputs) -
[http://www.beyondboundariesnicolelis.net/wordpress/beyond-
bo...](http://www.beyondboundariesnicolelis.net/wordpress/beyond-boundaries/)

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petargyurov
Really cool stuff. I'm picturing a future where humans achieve so much more
due to a never depleting neuro-plasticity.

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nabla9
Possibilities are endless.

Imagine when over-controlling parents, communities or governments figure how
to use state of the art BCI feedback.

Youth re-education camps around the world will make good students, athletes,
citizens, "tame child-creatures", soldiers, jihadists, missionaries,
Christians, communists and worker-consumers and assembly line workers around
the clock.

"We can build you. Lead the way to mental health–be the first in your family
to enter a mental health clinic!"

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z3t4
Our bodies are such a marvelous machine, with many individual parts and
signaling processes, with the ability to rebuild and adapt.

~~~
hombre_fatal
Something that has always blown my mind is that you can have a hemisphere of
your brain removed with no major consequences:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemispherectomy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemispherectomy)

> Studies have found no significant long-term effects on memory, personality,
> or humor, and minimal changes in cognitive function overall.

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mark_l_watson
Interesting article, and the results at least “make sense” to me.

I am just a single data point but there are a few things that I think help my
neural plasticity:

Mix up the way I do routine physical activities: for example switch the order
of putting on shoes, etc.

I spend anywhere from five minutes to twenty minutes in VR every day. Just
putting on my Oculus Quest, and trying some random or favorite activity for a
few minutes feels stimulating (and is fun).

Meditation: I tend to meditate a fair amount for several days, then not
meditate for a while, in a cycle. I feel better when I meditate more but I
don’t have a good explanation beyond spirituality.

EDIT: also, I think lots of quality sleep refresh my brain. In the 1980s, Sir
Francis Crick theorized that REM sleep had the beneficial effect of removing
unnecessary memories from the previous day - sort of a Marie Kondo spark joy
cleaning out process.

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deskamess
How is the feedback generated and fed into the brain? Lets say the goal was to
move an object to the left? How does that cycle work?

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mamon
Isn’t neuroplasticity the main method of operation for a brain? So you’ll
always notice some plasticity in a person that is not, literally or
metaphorically, brain-dead. What’s the news here?

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aantix
I would experiment with such devices but placement of the electrodes is hard
to deduce.

How do the studies ensure consistent placement across participants?

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iamgopal
All Excel files directly connected to Brains, we change one line in our
thoughts, and we get output to someone's brain directly.

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Mirioron
Next step is to serve ads directly into people's brains. Suddenly I dread the
future.

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b3lvedere
They tried that with blipverts. Not a good idea.

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REDDitMen
TikTok

