Science fiction has often played with the concept of analyzing the brains of the recently dead for clues about the circumstances of their death.
The less fortunate among you may remember the less than popular 1999 film Wild Wild West staring Will Smith and Kevin Kline. In the sci-fi action-comedy, Kline’s character is seen in a train car with a severed head attached to a modified projector. His theory is that by shining a powerful light through the occipital lobe of the victim’s head, he is able to project an image of whatever the victim saw last on a wall.
While the scheme allowed Smith and Kline to find the bad-guy, obviously the crude concept could never work in the real world . . . or could it? Modern day science is slowly beginning to prove that such a feat may be possible with the use of neural interfaces, or an implanted prosthesis that allows the brain to connect to computers.
There have been many small successes in this particular field of science. For example, Kevin Warwick, a professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, is famous for his advances in the field of nero-surgical implants.
In 2002, an electrode was implanted into the nerve fibers of his left arm, giving Warwick the ability to control and move a robotic arm with the movements of his own hand.
Using this same technology, methods are being pioneered to work with the brain. One day there may be technology in place to capture and record thought digitally.
Research involving embedded wires and electrodes, such as the electrodes used in Warwick’s arm experiment, has demonstrated their ability to respond to brain activity. Studies experimenting with cures for patients suffering from a lack of libido or depression have proven that the brain is also able to respond to external electrical stimulation from electrodes placed near dopamine pathways.
With time, a similar technology may be used to record and retransmit visual images from the visual cortex back into the brain assisting in sight correction for the visually impaired.
However, inserting metal wires through the skull and into the cerebral cortex presents risks such as infection, scaring or corrosion of the wires themselves.
An alternative method, which is much less invasive, involves the use of electroencephalogram (EEG) brainwave sensors. EEG sensors are non invasive and can be removed from the patients head at any time.
In fact, toy giant Mattel has recently come out with a personal gaming device called the Mindflex. The device uses EEG sensors placed in a headset the user wears. According to mindflexgames.com, “Whenever you concentrate, you generate brainwave activity. Mindflex [. . .] ‘reads’ the intensity of these brainwaves via sensors positioned on your forehead and ears. These sensors do not generate or interfere with brainwaves; they only read what is already there.”
Once the Mindflex headset recognizes your brainwaves, it transmits a signal to a fan within the console that controls ball levitation. The harder you concentrate, the stronger the fan blows and the higher the ball levitates.
The price for an EEG headset is still very high but, like other technologies, the price will probably decline with time and as the technology improves and becomes more ubiquitous. For example, Intel demonstrated that a software application could determine what a patient is thinking by analyzing functional MRI scans in order to see what parts of the brain are being activated.
When comparing an EEG headset to an MRI scanner, the differences in size and technology are huge but they both rely on the same principle. It is probably only a few decades away before we could have a portable MRI the size of a helmet and then reading other people’s thoughts and recording them digitally will no longer be science fiction.
