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Epicenter of brain's predictive ability pinpointed by scientists
In recent years, scientists have discovered the human brain works on predictions, contrary to the previously accepted theory that it reacts to the sensations it picks up from the outside world. Experts say humans' reactions are in fact the body adjusting to predictions the brain is making based on the state of our body the last time it was in a similar situation.
Now, University Distinguished Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett at Northeastern has reported finding the epicenter of those predictions.
In an article published in Nature last week, Barrett contends that limbic tissue, which also helps to create emotions, is at the top of the brain's prediction hierarchy. She co-authored the paper with W. Kyle Simmons, of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"The unique contribution of our paper is to show that limbic tissue, because of its structure and the way the neurons are organized, is predicting," Barrett said. "It is directing the predictions to everywhere else in the cortex, and that makes it very powerful."
For example, when a person is instructed to imagine a red apple in his or her mind's eye, Barrett explained that limbic parts of the brain send predictions to visual neurons and cause them to fire in different patterns so the person can "see" a red apple.
Barrett is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology and is director of the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory. A pioneer in the psychology of emotion and affective neuroscience, she has challenged the foundation of affective science by showing that people are the architects of their own emotional experiences.
In the Nature paper, Barrett summarized research on the cellular composition of limbic tissue, which shows that limbic regions of the brain send but do not receive predictions. This means that limbic regions direct processing in the brain. They don't react to stimulation from the outside world. This is ironic, Barrett argues, because when scientists used to believe that limbic regions of the brain were the home of emotion, they were seen as mainly reactive to the world.
Common sense tells you that seeing is believing, but really the brain is built for things to work the other way around: you see (and hear and smell and taste) what you believe. And believing is largely based on feeling. In her paper, Barrett shows that your brain is not wired to be a reactive organ. It's wired to ask the question: "The last time I was in a situation like this, what sensations did I encounter, and how did I act?" And the sensations that seem to matter most are the ones that are inside your own body, which are called "interoceptions."
"What your brain is trying to do is guess what the sensation means and what's causing the sensations so it can figure out what to do about them," Barrett said. "Your brain is trying to put together thoughts, feelings, and perceptions so they arrive as needed, not a second afterwards."
Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by Northeastern University. The original article was written by Joe O'Connell. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150602130553.htm
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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