Well, now I want my own MRI scanner.
Many of us have our special ways of dealing with our feelings and emotions. Now imagine if you could see what was happening inside your brain as you experienced emotions and sensations such as pain, anxiety, depression, fear, and pleasure – all in real-time. Suddenly, why you feel the way you feel might not be such a mystery, and the effectiveness of the little mental techniques you use to deal with daily life would be clearly visible.
That’s the idea behind a new technique known as “real-time fMRI”. By receiving specific visual feedback about brain activity while executing mental tricks and strategies, we can learn to consciously control our emotions, sensations and cravings as if they were being manipulated by a volume knob on a stereo. Through practice, you can learn to strengthen control over the mind similar to how a weightlifter targets a specific muscle group – and it raises the tantalising possibility of a future where we can train advanced mental abilities far beyond our own today.
The first demonstration that real-time fMRI could be a powerful tool came in 2005, with a study where researchers taught people how to control pain. Importantly, decreases or increases in this neural signal correlated with subjective feelings of pain, as measured by a questionnaire and a 10-point pain scale. Amazingly, in just a single 13-minute session participants learned to easily control the size of the flame and were able to reduce their pain by over 50%.
A 2017 study published in the journal Appetite showed that the training could fight obesity. Another study published this year found that by learning control over the right inferior prefrontal cortex, a brain region that is impaired in those with ADHD, adolescents could decrease ADHD symptoms and improve sustained attention. And a 2016 study found that elderly adults using the technique improved their cognition. A 2015 study with healthy adults showed that neurofeedback training could improve focus and reduce lapses of attention.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170507-the-most-promising-route-to-mental-superpowers
I can imagine a supervillain forcing these upon the victims, and learning how to push their buttons.
ReplyDeleteDean Calahan: That's the essence of Scientology, except they use primitive ohmmeters instead of fMRI machines.
ReplyDeleteToo bad someone doesn't replace the Scientology meters with bullshit detectors.
ReplyDelete