Mind Over Matter: Neural Decoding – The Control of the Movement of Objects Using Thought

In light of a recent announcement at the 2009 Society for Neuroscience conference in Chicago, “mind reading” has taken another scientific leap forward. Researchers are now able to determine what vowel and consonants a person is thinking of by recording activity from the surface of the brain. Jack Gallant, and colleague Shinji Nishimoto, leading “neural decoders” at the University of California, Berkeley, have produced some of the field’s most impressive results yet.

They showed that they could create a crude reproduction of a movie clip that someone was watching just by viewing their brain activity.

Other neuroscientists claim that such neural decoding can be used to read memories and future plans and even to diagnose eating disorders. These developments are raising concerns about the potential exploitation of “mind reading” technologies by advertisers or oppressive governments. So it’s understandable that researchers are wary of having their work referred to as mind reading. Emphasizing its limitations, they call it neural decoding.

Toyota is developing an advanced brain-sensing system that controls the movement of a wheelchair by reading a user’s thoughts alone.

By detecting and processing brain wave patterns, the system can “propel a wheelchair forward, as well as make turns, with virtually no discernible delay between thought and movement,” according to a recent press release. Rival automaker Honda’s Asimo robot can also be manipulated by detecting brain signals. Honda is exploring the concept that humanoid robots may one day replace home care nurses:

What was once speculative fiction — the ability to read minds and to control the movement of objects using thought alone, sometimes called mind-over-matter –- is rapidly becoming neurotechnological fact.

The upside of this technology will more freedom for the physically impaired –- imagine wheelchair-bound physicist Stephen Hawking able to control his wheelchair and capture and communicate his thoughts and sentences with a neuroheadset. The obvious downside is the potential dystopian nightmare of “thought police” strapping you to a chair to view the contents of your mind and gain a confession.

Article Reposted from H+ Magazine “Mind Reading (Neural Decoding) Goes Mainstream“.