The human brain is probably the most complicated organ in the human body. I say complicated because physically the brain is made up of millions of crisscrossing nerves which carry billions of neurons here and there. It is amazing to even wonder how this intricate jungle of mass information works! It is a fact that scientists can explain most of the actions performed by the brain or stimulated by the brain and can trace the origins of the action to a tiny nerve hidden in the neurotic jungle or they can even zero in to the last neuron which fired the action process. But the fact remains we are still unable to comprehend the full potential of the human brain due to the fact that the human brain has not been goaded or stimulated enough to realize its full powers.
What caused newton or einstein to do the things they did? where they made different from the common man and were their chemical and electrical processes in their brain charged up better than the others that they could deliver so much with their brain powers? How were their brains stimulated better that they had a much higher average when it came to analyzing, researching and finding solutions to complex problems that most of us humans never even knew existed ? is it possible that some humans had better cerebral capabilities than others? was it fair if they did or can there be ways to impove the brain power of every child and adult that a world with a human race that is truly equal in every sense of the word be created? can we create a world full of super achieving human beings?
These questions must have lingered in the minds of the members of the scientific and neurotechnology community for a ling time and answers to these questions have slowly been unraveled in the last decade. Advancement in science especially in the field of neuro science has enabled scientists and researchers alike to understand the brain a little more now. These people have found out that it was indeed possible for a human being to maximize the potential of his or brain. It is possible now they say to stimulate the brain in such a manner that the productiion capacity of the brain is significantly invreased but this requires a little bit of assistance through external means.
keeping in line with the developments, many neurotechnology companies have come up with important breakthroughs that promise much in the field of brain power enhancement. They say every child can be moded into a bright adult with the aid of proper stimulating exercises for the brain and every adult can be transformed into better productive hubs with the help of similar exercises. These exercises can be in the form of audio visual stimulation, simple "brain testing" exercises and through the use of software such as memory stimulating software.
Memory stimulating software helps your brain to improve its own capabilities by testing it by a series of well researched and designed brain testing exercises. These exercises stimulate the brain to improve its functional ability through constant practice. This is much similar to how an athlete trains his body to perform physical actions better through constant practice. The brain too has to be challenged to perform better and goaded into pushing the limits. Brain enhancement is an ongoing process which should never stop and the vital faculties of a human brain can be prolonged to function optimally if the brain is continously tested, challenged and forced into giving better results and if every single man and woman really optimizes their brain powers, then this world will see a race of super intelligent, high performing human beings.
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The Brain Testing
Brain Power
Researchers at Duke University and MCP Hahnemann University have developed a tecnnique for using brain signals to control a robotic arm. This feat was accomplished by recording signals from electrodes that were implaanted in the brains of rats. It is believed that this new method may some day offer hope to theose suffering from spinal cord injuries who have prosthetic limbs. Theoretically, the electrodes could be implanted into the brain to allow the person to have control over limb movement, much as they would an actual limb.
In the experiment, rats were taught to operate a robotic arm by pressing a lever. Pressing the lever resulted in the rats receiving a reward. Researchers recorded the neuronal activity responsible for muscle movement using implanted electrode arrays. Once the spesific groups of neurons that were used for muscle movement when pressing the lever were identified, researchers changed the control of the robotic arm from the lever to the electrode implants.
The rats promptly learned that they could move the robotic arm to receive a reward without having to press the lever. All they had to do was to activate the particular neurons in the brain that they had previously used when physically pressing the lever.
This ground-breaking study established the first tangible evidence that neuron signals can be used to control external devices. Prior to this study, scientists suspected that neuronal control of external devices was possible but there was no demonstrable proof.
Researchers speculate that the knowledge gained from this study could be used to develop new techniques to treat those suffering from a variety of disabilities including spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, and locked-in syndrome. Since those with locked-in syndrome may have intact thinking skills but no ability to interact wiht their environment, external control of devices through neurons may be particularly helpful.
The researchers also strongly emphasize that there are still significant technical obstacles that must be overcome before any attempts at human clinical trials can begin. They do however believe that these obstacles are not impossible to overcome.
(biology.about.com)
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