Friday, February 17, 2006

I'd have to admit I'm tempted, too...

Thanks to Neurodudes for pointing out this amazing article from MIT's Technology Review. What's so awesome about it, you ask? Here you go:

Bill Newsome, a neuroscientist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, has spent the last twenty years studying how neurons encode information and how they use it to make decisions about the world. In the 1990s, he and collaborators were able to change the way a monkey responded to its environment by sending electric jolts to certain parts of its brain. The findings gave neuroscientists enormous insight into the inner workings of the brain.

But Newsome is obsessed with a lingering question: How does consciousness arise from brain function? He feels the best way to answer that question is by implanting an electrode into his own brain -- and seeing how the electric current changes his perception of the world.


Now THAT's awesome. Go read the rest.

1 Comments:

At 18 February, 2006 10:52, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Venkman: Remember that time you tried to drill a hole through your head?
Spengler: That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me.

 

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