Modern science believes that it is impossible to decipher the thoughts

Psychologist Dr. Doping talks about neurointerface, prosthetics and brain of electronic memory chips.

- Today, we have chosen as the theme neurophysiology. More precisely, the specific her profile, namely technology of "brain-computer interface," in general, how to connect the brain to the computer. To be more precise, this section how we can read the brain or its activity by various technical means. What is a brain-computer interface in general terms?

- At the hearing longer term "brain-computer interface," but it's the same thing as brain-computer interface, or BCI. Brain-computer interface - it's not just some device or program, it is a whole technology that allows a person to learn how to interact with the outside world without the aid of muscular action without a voice directly from the brain, based on the registration of its electrical activity, or electroencephalogram (EEG). this interface logic is simple: the intention of the person to any action should be manifested in the change of the EEG. These changes in the EEG are deciphered by computer means. As a result of this decryption is formed teams for the respective actuators. For example, I want to turn on the TV - it is my intention appears to change the EEG parameters. If these changes can be revealed at the same time as they occurred, then further still by electronic means to form a team that understands the touch of the TV module. So this is a technology that allows a person directly from the brain, the power of his voluntary actions, volitional impulse or intention to control external devices.

- What exactly is recognized, what activity? Because, as I understand it, is to connect the electrodes to the brain there is no question, at least in the main experiments. What is it? This is primarily an electroencephalogram, ie the electrical activity of the brain?

- Yes, the brain is a giant network of nerve cells are constantly communicating with each other signals in the form of electrical impulses. Summed echoes of the electric fields of these pulses can be registered directly on the skin surface of the head. Indeed, when applied to scalp the two conductor between them can be registered electric potential difference variations. However, their amplitude is only millionths of a volt. Recording of these oscillations is an electroencephalogram, or EEG. If these potentials to strengthen a million times, converted into numbers and drive into your computer, then there begins the main sacrament neurointerface - deciphering the intentions of human EEG. Decryption algorithms are a joint labor and know-how neuroscientists, mathematicians, and programmers.

- But here, in the EEG recording, a lot of noise. That is, all the same turns out that the basis of the decryption is only the echo of some processes that occur in the brain. Processes themselves are not trapped, caught only their echoes.

- Absolutely correct. The fact that we register with the surface of the head, can be compared with the noise from the car. However, an experienced mechanic even this noise can find signs of good or bad performance of individual engine components. Just about act and we are examining in this noise by more than eighty billion neurons signs or other intentions. However, it is important to understand that, if you work only with the EEG curve, you can not decrypt anything. One acquaintance of advanced even reproached me that to decrypt the EEG, we are not referring to the professionals who work professionally with the decoding of complex codes. They say that they are specifically and to learn to cope with the most sophisticated encoding messages. I answer this way: "It is these professionals, we can not be of any help." The fact is that the brain does not use EEG for messages, that is simply not encrypted EEG nothing. The EEG can detect only the echoes of some events in the brain. In the middle of such echoes intentions EEG neuroscientists go through repeated testing of the system: they offer the subject over and over again cause a number of specific intent, such as "I want to squeeze the right hand," "I want to squeeze the left," etc. Then stands for precisely this test record.. with known events in the brain, it becomes clear what the specific change in the EEG is typical for the emergence of a specific intent. Table of correspondences is the key to deciphering, with which you can keep track of the current EEG appearance has already previously known markers of human intentions. You can improve your brain and memory – just buy Phenylpiracetam, Picamilon, Semax, Cortexin, Cogitum, Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) injection.

Do we read so that a person's thoughts? No, I thought we basically can not read, because to do that we would have to create a table of correspondence between mental unimaginable number of combinations and the corresponding changes in the EEG. Moreover, every thought is multifaceted, its interpretation depends on the context, from conventions, and so on. D. Thus, the technology of "brain-computer interface" is not based on deciphering the thoughts, and on the detection of EEG markers in a small number of pre-tested intentions. The intentions can be manifested in a particular form, such as focusing on one or another letter on the screen. This correspondence table allows you to decipher the intention of the person typed in a particular letter.

- Perhaps you can throw the subject is not only the letter but also some visual images and record its activity in this situation.

- Yes, that's right, you could. We can come up with such a demonstration of the system on the screen, which tests a person of interest to the different pictures on EEG reactions. With this code, you can then on the current EEG guess the appearance of a person of interest to a particular test subject and that it has been of interest to a greater extent that less.

- At the same time still be a problem reading people's thoughts anyway possible, at least theoretically. That is, in a sense, as well as the lie detector works, that actually just takes bio-parameters human activity (change in pressure, sweating, etc.) on any question or phrase and records the change in its attitude. And here we can fix a particular image, tossing human visual image.

- Lie Detector is not reading thoughts by definition. Lie detector detects human reaction, which provoke these reactions special issues. But on the basis of technology "brain-computer interface" you can make the most of the perfect lie detector, because the hidden person of interest to a particular object in neuro-interface circuit can be tested without any provocation. A person may not even notice that it is in the loop detect hidden information. We are not engaged in the development of practical implementations of lie detectors, because so far no suitable funding for this task.

- With regard to peaceful purposes, which use brain-computer interface. What could it be?

- In practical terms, the most advanced work on brain-computer interface in medicine. In particular, our laboratory is preparing the country's first neuro-communicator specifically for patients with severely impaired speech and motor function after stroke, after brain injury. Right now in our lab, anyone can sit down at the computer screen and typing letter by letter, without touching the keyboard by simply focusing consistently on a particular letter.

- And speed with which it prints?

- This is just 12-15 characters per minute. Whereas, if the keyboard to type text with two fingers, it is 90 characters. But we're talking about the health project, when the patient is no way to type text, but to use this strong-willed efforts. Only in the US alone counted more than 300 thousand people suffering from total paralysis that no movement can not give to know anything about their desires, intentions. Now, if they provide a direct-printing interface, in fact it will be a new life for them. Moreover, such patients can be instead of letters give an effort of pushing the remote control buttons:.. Bring a drink, call a doctor, including air conditioning, enter the Internet, etc. We have done all this in the laboratory. We even made constructive for hypertext reference books. As in science fiction films, where you look at the screen and thought flipping through, you find the right page.

- And this technology is used in prosthetics? It can somehow be involved in the creation of mechanisms that replace or reduce shortcomings, such as the loss of limbs?

- Yes, on the order of neuro-controllers, that is, devices that allow the power of our intentions is something physically to do in this environment, something currently apply, something moved. Neuro-manipulators are controlled in a different way: in the EEG, we find changes typical for the moments when one thinks, for example, on the motion of your hand. On the basis of neuro-manipulators, we are creating a neuro-simulator, which will convey a person's intention to make a move his paralyzed arm to exoprosthetic structure attached to the hand. This is the training, as a person's intention to gets its functional completion: the hand moves. The idea is that having confirmation of his intentions, the brain gradually reorganize their resources so as to establish communication with the hand muscles. Exoskeleton in this case can be removed, as the refuse of the crutches when fused bone.

There is another perspective of the development of neuro-manipulators - an automated hospital beds. Even completely paralyzed patient can to some extent serve themselves: an effort of will to push in front of a computer screen, a manipulator to apply a glass of water, change the slope of the bed, press the alarm button, etc. Not a bad decision in circumstances where everywhere is not enough nurses, personnel.

- If you continue with this line: a brain prosthesis can we?

- The brain is perhaps the only organ of the body, which for a full prosthesis no theoretical or experimental grounds. However, this does not close the prospect of dentures, even very bad, but still somehow mimicking the original function. After all, the brain - it's super complex though, but rather a structured information and analysis apparatus. As a computer, suppose we do not replace the CPU, but the assembly of the burned USB-port one way or another make of "scrap" material as possible.

For the brain, apparently, these local solutions are also possible. The well-known American researcher Theodore Berger has created an electronic prosthetic middle part of the hippocampus, a very important area of the brain responsible for spatial memory. This area, incidentally, are often damaged by stroke. It was like this: rats previously implanted into the hippocampus several dozen electrodes to record the electrical activity of the brain and vice versa, for the electrical stimulation of the brain region. The rats were then taught the conditioned reflex of choosing the right trough with the food that they did. Naturally, even the trained rats sometimes wrong. Scientists have traced the changes in the electrical activity of the hippocampus are times when the rat has taken the right or wrong decision in search of food. And if little damage to the hippocampus, trained this mouse is lost: she could not remember where her food. But if using implanted electrodes to recreate the picture of the activation of the hippocampus, both during the right decision, the rat immediately recalls where to run to the trough. Arrange an artificial stimulation of the hippocampus special chip implanted under the skin.

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You can not damage the hippocampus: the rat, like people, sometimes remembers her desired things, sometimes bad. And when her memory fails, scientists have connected the chip prosthesis - rat immediately thought of where to run to the trough. Electronic chip complements the hippocampus!

- So in fact it is a memory stimulant?

- The term "promoter" is generally understood a tablet (Phenotropil) or agent (Cogitum) that increases the activity of nerve cells, for example caffeine. Berger chip rather than simply increase the activity, and generates a specific combination of activities of nerve cells, which corresponds to a definite memory skills. In experiments it was Berger rat skill to perform a particular problem - the search of one of the two feeders in a particular situation. Because it is for this skill has been picked up by an activation code, which was sewn in an electronic chip.

And if you ask, is it possible to spy on unlock codes for all of the body's skills and change the whole brain to such electronic chips or, even more, to rewrite the contents of the brain on artificial media processors? I would answer: "No, it is impossible, at least because the skills - it is much more than a collection of once and for all made designer items." Skills, in addition to being united not only muscle but also mental activities, and knowledge, and models, and plans, and much more, yet constantly modified and adjusted to each other, to the current needs of the body and the realities of the world. activation code of the skill decrypted once may not be useful in the next minute.

- Perhaps the only question is how long the researcher of the brain will be able to experiment with the aim of recording all the new and new activation code?

- You're asking it's not just about basic motor skills, and about whether it is possible for the electrical activity of the brain to decipher the inner motivation of human intention, for example, commit a terrorist act. Unfortunately, there are a variety of thoughts is extremely large, commensurate with a variety of skills, which can make the activation codes. No matter how many repeat EEG records or to make, for example, with the imagination of a red rose, each new record will be different from the previous one so it is easy to mix up with the record when mental representation of two-humped camel. And speaking of intracranial electrodes, even 100 thousand contacts disproportionately small compared to the millions of billions of contacts between nerve cells, operational of ones human brain.

And the biggest problem: we do not know the codes, which communicate with each other nerve cells. But even if we know these codes, anything that does not give, because these codes are constantly modified in accordance with the constantly updated context. As for all those to follow?

- If you go back to read the brain, which, in fact, we are now able to read and what are the prospects for this reading? At least, if we do not encroach on the neuronal level, that is non-invasive, removing some activity from the surface of the brain.

- We must immediately separate the two approaches in the development of neuro-interfaces: invasive, that is, with the introduction of electrodes into the brain, and non-invasive when EEG registration is made by surface electrodes. The introduction of the electrodes directly into the brain provides more accurate decoding of human willpower compared to decode a superficial arrangement of the electrodes. It is now tested invasive registration system containing up to two thousand electrodes implanted in the brain. In the near future there will be the appearance of the electrode assembly to 100 thousand contacts. It seems to me that in such a neuro-interface systems, which allow through willpower to control artificial robotic systems no worse than we are doing now with the help of manual control hardware and electronic security in the coming years will be obtained. Only yourself manipulators, robots, and other actuators must also be enhanced to understand commands neuro-interfaces, as well as in the simplest case, for example, the mobile phone has the ability to predict the typed word with his keyboard.

- If you dream a little, what awaits us in this area further?

- Let's restrict something beyond our fantasies. If we talk about science fiction, it is best to start with what we already know and that does not contradict the already known laws of Nature. It seems to me that, for example, prosthetic organs as they exit from the system and the creation of almost complete body of the prosthesis is possible with the inclusion of bioreactors - a task only for a few decades. However, prosthetic brain, as we have said, even theoretically unsolvable problem. Meanwhile, the sad statistics tells us that in most cases a person dies when his brain is still full of life. Therefore, as soon as practical problem will arise more and more of the natural absorption of the human body prostheses to the need of their direct connection to the management of the brain. Neurointerface turn into a person to provide not only the control of artificial limbs, but of life and systems of regulation depending on the extent and characteristics of biological prosthetic body. I do not know how far can the construction of artificial symbiosis between the body and the brain naturally, but in any case we are not talking about creating a fantastic electronic monsters or cyborgs, but to extend the life of each individual. We have become accustomed to the idea that human life can continue not only through other people's bodies, but also with the help of artificial inclusions in the body: heart valves, vascular scaffolds, metal, hip and knee joints, the plastic lens of the eye and TD may it neurointerface technologies will be crucial to the creation of conditions for the full realization of the human brain as the biological resources of the body. Together with the use of biological therapies against brain aging of the human person will receive the maximum possible time limit for their development and improvement.

- What is the main obstacle to the implementation?

- Creation of a compact artificial organs, which may have been placed in the human body - is a difficult problem, not only in terms of technical implementation of an organ, but to a much greater extent in terms of cybernetic association of artificial organs and natural brain into a single, smoothly running biotechnical complex. There is, perhaps, braking and in connection with the unresolved moral and ethical, legal and even philosophical questions in connection with the possibilities and consequences of an artificial reconstruction of the human body. It seems to me that these questions many orders of magnitude more socially responsible than, for example, similar collisions occurred during the creation of nuclear energy.