Life is difficult, many people have come to face with many unfortunate events which have affect their life in a severe way. Some accidents cause a great deal of people to have brain damage and they would no longer possess the cognitive capabilities they had before their accident. However, a neuroscientist name John Donoghue invented a technology which assist people who have brain damage, this device is called the BrainGate. The BrainGate “help people who have suffered debilitating brain injuries communicate (Kaku, 2011, 33).”
Donoghue envisions a world where his technological invention would revolutionize the method we use to treat brain damage by utilizing the full potential of the knowledge revolution. The use of BraingGate have already
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It is like the mechanical arms have become one with the monkey. Nicolelis states “There’s some physiological evidence that during the experiment they feel more connected to the robots than to their own bodies (Kaku, 34, 2011).” There are many benefits by utilizing the BrainGate. For instance, as mention above, these chips allow for people who are disabled use their mind to function as if they have not lost control of their limbs. The chips would be able to control mechanical limbs, which would allow the patient to have control over their movements again. A test was done on Cathy Hutchchinson, in which she controls a robotic arm to bring a flask to her lips, as if it was feeding her. Another benefit would be controlling a computer with just your mind. In a recent test, two separate elderly patients who suffers Lou Gerig’s disease use the BrainGate technology to move a cursor on the computer by just thing about it. During this test, scientist evaluate “how fast the two paralysed people…could use their minds to guide an arrow-shaped cursor onto a …show more content…
During today’s time period, technology have been evolving at an exponential rate. The BrainGate technology have advance greatly since the time it was invented. This brain computer can now be used by strapping a transmitter to the patient’s head and wired electrodes into the skull would their thought command to be delivered wirelessly as fast as a home internet connection. Arto Nurmikko, the professor who led the creation of this wireless system states “the device transmits data out of the brain at rate of 48 megabits per second (Regalado, 1, 2015)” and use only a fraction of power of what a smartphone would use. The BrainGate have not meet its full potential, even though the implant is able to transmit a large amount of data a day, it is not much compared to what the human brain can generate by performing a simple movement. According to this article, the BrainGate will never be used in actual medicine, until it is further developed and becomes for reliable; the head module is just the
Everything is criticized at every level in this story, the people by the main character, the main character by the author and even the story by the author as well. The cruel egoistic personality of Anders is definitely identifiable through these different levels of criticism. I will prove that the inner motivation of this behaviour derives from Anders' egoistic personality which sometimes makes him cruel against others, sometimes against himself. Furthermore, I will prove that whenever Anders criticizes somebody or something he actually tries to punish because of the imperfectness of the object. In order to make the referring to the different part of the story easier I divide it into three parts. The first part ends when the robbers appear at the door of the bank, the second ends when one of the robbers shoots at Anders and the left is the third part.
In the article “The Coddling of the American Mind” the authors Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt express that college campuses in America are dealing with emotional discomfort every day. They point out whether we are too emotional on certain topics in our lives or we need to change something on college campuses to have students feel more comfortable. College student have experienced a lot in life so I think that campuses should help college students through traumatic experiences in their past instead of not acknowledging certain topics and banning them to discuss in class like rape and domestic violence which happens in our everyday life. Colleges need to step up and talk about these things so students can feel more comfortable.
Carr mentions the affect that technology has on the neurological processes of the brain. Plasticity is described as the brains response through neurological pathways through experiences. The brain regions “change with experience, circumstance, and need” (29). Brain plasticity also responds to experiences that cause damage to the nervous system. Carr explains that injuries in accidents “reveal how extensively the brain can reorganize itself” (29).I have heard stories in which amputees are said to have a reaction to their amputated limb; it is known as a phantom limb. These types of studies are instrumental in supporting the claim that the brain can be restructured. Carr asserts that the internet is restructuring our brains while citing the brain plasticity experiments and studies done by other scientists. I have experienced this because I feel like by brain has become accustomed to activities that I do on a regular basis. For example, I rarely realize that I am driving when coming to school because I am used to driving on a specific route.
Scientists are on the brink of doing the unthinkable-replenishing the brains of people who have suffered strokes or head injuries to make them whole again. If that is not astonishing enough, they think they may be able to reverse paralysis. The door is at last open to lifting the terrifying sentence these disorders still decree-loss of physical function, cognitive skills, memory, and personality.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide for which there is no cure. Many patients who survive from TBI may experience permanent cognitive loss, behavioral issues, and emotional disturbances, which require daily medical or social attentions.[1, 2] It is believed that over 2% US population is experiencing TBI-associated disabilities which create an annual burden evaluated at $60 billion on direct (medical service) and indirect (loss of productivity) costs.[3, 4] Traumatic brain injury is complex which consists of a mechanical trauma (primary injury) and a resulting biochemical cascade (secondary injury), and lead to a wide diversity of symptoms.[5]
Beautiful Brains by David Dobbs is an article about why teenagers usually take more risks than adults. In the article Dobbs begins by discussing how his son once got in trouble for speeding down a highway just because he was curious to know what it felt like. He then goes into asking why teenagers often do "stupid" things and then explains that teens have always done that throughout time. He provides scientific evidence that the brain changes between the ages of 12 to 25 affecting our decision making. One way that a reader could interpret this data is that teenagers have a hard time using new parts of their brain and seem to be in a state of retardation. Dobb also describes the reckless acts of teenagers in order for them to adapt to any situation.
With today’s world more inclined towards war than peace, many people encounter injuries and damages. Thousands of soldiers, in US military, develop deficits to their long-term memory owing to head trauma, brain injury or memory loss, even if they don’t bear any kind of physical damage. This is not only limited to US military but military all over the world. This can even extend to a common man who might have come across a similar problem of brain injury. In response to this, the US military is funding research that is strategically designed to improve memory by brain stimulation via implanted electrodes. It is believed that this can also help people who have suffered strokes or those who have lost their capability to recall due to ageing. The
With the advent of this new technology doctors and psychiatrists may have finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel. Well not exactly, but the state of the art new technology, Optogenetics, does offer an innovative new approach to the study of the brain, and, more importantly, the treatment of patients. The use of light had been surmised to be a valuable way to control cells many years prior by Francis Crick (Crick 2024), but no one had been able to pull all the pieces together. While it’s by no means perfectly safe: there are still uncertainties about the long-term effects and the level of specificity it offers can only control groups of neurons up to .3 (mm^3) instead of individual neurons. Optogenetics still provides benefits over our current pharmaceutical and surgical technologies with its specificity, both temporally and spatially. In light of these facts, doctors should consider optogenetics as a safe and efficacious way to treat neurological disorders unresponsive to current methods.
In The article “Brainology” “Carol S Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, differentiates between having a fixed and growth mindset in addition how these mindsets have a deep effect on a student’s desire to learn. Individuals who have a fixed mindset believe they are smart without putting in effort and are afraid of obstacles, lack motivation, and their focus is to appear smart.. In contrast, students with a growth mindset learn by facing obstacles and are motivated to learn. Dwecks argues that students should develop a growth mindset.
As far as I could remember I was never really any good at school. I couldn’t concentrate on things for no more than 5 minutes at a time I would either get discouraged or find it too easy and just give up. An author by the name of Carol Dweck wrote an article called “Brainology” in it Dweck describes that there are two types of mindsets fixed and growth. Those who are afraid to fail so they never try anything new are ones with a fixed mindset and the growth mindset are those who are not afraid to fail and find a new challenge an opportunity to learn something new. I guess you can say that I had a bit of a fixed mindset growing up I was always too scared to look stupid that I didn’t want to fail because I didn’t want to disappoint my siblings
In Carol Dweck’s “Brainology” the article explains how our brain is always being altered by our experiences and knowledge during our lifespan. For this Dweck conducted a research in what students believe about their own brain and their thoughts in their intelligence. They were questioned, if intelligence was something fixed or if it could grow and change; and how this affected their motivation, learning, and academic achievements. The response to it came with different points of views, beliefs, or mindset in which created different behavior and learning tendencies. These two mindsets are call fixed and growth mindsets. In a fixed mindset, the individual believes that intelligence is something already obtain and that is it. They worry if they
In “The Brain on trial”, David Eagleman (2011) recounts the horrifying events which occurred on August 1, 1966. Charles Whitman entered the University of Texas with a rifle and secured himself in the bell tower. He then proceeded to shoot and kill 13 people and injure 32 more. Whitman was also shot and killed; however, during his autopsy it was discovered that a tumor was pressing against his amygdala. According to Eagleman, “The amygdala is involved in emotional regulation, especially of fear and aggression” (2011). Therefore, Whitman was possibly experiencing a fundamental change in his emotions and personality due to the tumor. Though Whitman did not survive, his case still poses questions as to whether or not he should be held accountable for his actions; moreover, should Whitman have received the maximum punishment for the murder he committed? Charles Whitman may not have had control over the feelings of “rage and irrational thoughts” (2011) he was experiencing; however, the precision of the attack indicates he was well aware of the actions he was committing.
Victoroff, Jeffrey Ivan. Saving Your Brain: The Revolutionary Plan to Boost Brain Power, Improve Memory, and Protect Yourself Against Aging and Alzheimer's. New York: Bantam, 2002.
When thinking of the word optogenetics, the word optimistic comes to mind, and that is exactly what optogenetics is. This new technology is optimistic to opening new doors to help save lives step by step, find cures, and a way for doctors to find underlying causes of life-threatening diseases. The idea was first brought up by Francis Crick, who also helped discover the double helix in DNA. “Crick’s idea was that light, with its unparalleled speed and precision, could be the ideal tool for controlling neurons and mapping the brain,” (Barth 3). Optogenetics is the technique of using different colored lights and proteins to activate neurons in the brain to change the way it functions (Dougherty 1). Optogenetics has the potential to achieve medical breakthroughs which can be beneficial to the health of humans and especially people who are affected by diseases of the brain like depression, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia (Callaway 1). He believes that over time, this technique will be able to target the underlying causes and symptoms of life-threatening diseases such as: Parkinson’s disease, blindness, drug addiction, and many more. This innovation should only bring positive effects over society, as it could be a potential life saver to many. As of now this technology is only being tested in animals, but all of the experiments have been successful. With more studies and testing over time, it could soon be used in humans in less than a decade. With optogenetics already having success with the minds of animals, who knows what wonders this new technology could accomplish in the minds of humans.
In the article The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, the authors go into great detail of describing the effects of trigger warnings. Using real world examples, Lukianoff and Haidt describes how college students are oversensitive and carried along the school year. The authors explain how this is a negative thing for the college students going into the work force in the future.