The Future of the Mind (56 page)

13
On another occasion:
Conference in Anaheim, California, April 2009.

14
He says, “Imagine if soldiers”:
Garreau, p. 22.

15
“What he is doing is spending”:
Ibid., p. 19.

16
When I asked Dr. Nishimoto:
Visit to Dr. Gallant’s laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, on July 11, 2012.

17
“There are ethical concerns”:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/47447302/ns/health-health_care/t/paralyzed-woman-gets-robotic-arm.html
.

CHAPTER 4: TELEKINESIS: MIND CONTROLLING MATTER

1
“I would love to have”:
New York Times
, May 17, 2012, p. A17 and
http://www.msnbc.mns.com/id/47447302/ns/health-health_care/t/parallyzed-woman-gets-robotic-arm.html
.

2
“We have taken a tiny sensor”:
Interview with Dr. John Donoghue in November 2009 for
Science Fantastic
national radio broadcast.

3
In the United States alone, more than two hundred thousand:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Washington, D.C.
http://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/scifacts.html
.

4
When the monkey wanted to move:
http://physio.northwestern.edu/faculty/miller.htm
;
http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2012/04/miller-paralyzed-technology.html
.

5
“We are eavesdropping on the natural”:
http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2012/04/miller-paralyzed-technology.html
.

6
More than 1,300 service members:
http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/DSO/Programs/Revolutionizing_Prosthetics.aspx. CBS
60 Minutes
, broadcast on December 30, 2012.

7
“They thought we were crazy”:
Ibid.

8
she appeared on
60 Minutes
:
Ibid.

9
“There’s going to be a whole ecosystem”:
Wall Street Journal
, May 29, 2012.

10
But perhaps the most novel applications:
Interview with Dr. Nicolelis in April 2011 for
Science Fantastic
national radio broadcast.

11
Smart Hands and Mind Melds:
New York Times
, March 13, 2013,
http://nytimes.com/2013/03/01/science/new-research-suggests-two-rat-brains-can-be-linked
. See also
Huffington Post
, February 28, 2013,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/28/mind-melds-brain-communication_n_2781609.html
.

12
In 2013, the next important step:
USA Today
, August 8, 2013, p. 1D.

13
About ten years ago:
Interview with Dr. Nicolelis in April 2011.

14
“so there’s nothing sticking out”:
For a full discussion of the exoskeleton, see Nicolelis, pp. 303–7.

15
The Honda Corporation has:
http://www.asimo.honda.com
. Also, interview with the creators of ASIMO in April 2007 for the BBC-TV series
Visions of the Future
.

16
Eventually, you get the hang:
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/may/review-test-driving-the-future
.

17
Then, by thinking, the patient:
Discover
, December 9, 2011,
http://discovermagazine.com/2011/dec/09-mind-over-motor-controlling-robots-with-your-thoughts
.

18
“We will likely be able to operate”:
Nicolelis, p. 315.

19
I saw a demonstration of this:
Interview with the scientists at Carnegie Mellon in August 2010 for the Discovery/Science Channel TV series
Sci Fi Science
.

CHAPTER 5: MEMORIES AND THOUGHTS MADE TO ORDER

1
“It has all come together”:
Wade, p. 89.

2
So far, scientists have identified:
Ibid., p. 91.

3
For instance, Dr. Antonio Damasio:
Damasio, pp. 130–53.

4
One fragment of memory might:
Wade, p. 232.

5
“If you can’t do it”:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3488
.

6
“Turn the switch on”:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-06/uosc-rmr06211.php
.

7
“Using implantables to enhance competency”:
http://hplusmagazine.com/2009/03/18/artificial-hipppocampus
.

8
Not surprisingly, with so much at stake:
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-07-12/national/40863765_1_brain-cells-mice-new-memories
.

9
If encoding the memory:
This brings up the question of whether carrier pigeons, migratory birds, whales, etc., have a long-term memory, given that they can migrate over hundreds to thousands of miles in search of feeding and breeding grounds. Science knows little about this question. But it is believed that their long-term memory is based on locating certain landmarks along the way, rather than recalling elaborate memories of past events. In other words, they do not use memory of past events to help them simulate the future. Their long-term memory consists of just a series of markers. Apparently, only in humans are long-term memories used to help simulate the future.

10
“The purpose of memory is”:
Michael Lemonick, “Your Brain: A User’s Guide,”
Time
, December 2011, p. 78.

11
“You might look at it”:
http://sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/0210-brain_scans_of_the_future.htm
.

12
their study proves a “tentative answer”:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/0710
.

13
“The whole idea is that the device”:
New York Times
, September 12, 2012, p. A18.

14
“It will likely take us”:
http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/58736-artificial-cerebellum-restores-rats
.

15
There are 5.3 million Americans:
Alzheimer’s Foundation of America,
http://www.alzfdn.org
.

16
“This adds to the notion”:
ScienceDaily.com
, October 2009,
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019122647.htm
.

17
“We can never turn it into”:
Ibid.

18
“This implies these flies have”:
Wade, p. 113.

19
This effect is not just restricted:
Ibid.

20
“We can now give you”:
Ibid., p. 114.

21
Basically, the more CREB proteins:
Bloom, p. 244.

22
“Propranolol sits on that nerve cell”:
SATI e-News, June 28, 2007,
http://www.mysati.com/enews/June2007/ptsd.htm
.

23
Its report concluded:
Boleyn-Fitzgerald, p. 104.

24
“Our breakups, our relationships”:
Ibid.

25
“should we deprive them of morphine”:
Ibid., p. 105.

26
“If further work confirms this view”:
Ibid., p. 106.

27
“Each of these perennial records”:
Nicolelis, p. 318.

28
“Forgetting is the most beneficial process”:
New Scientist
, March 12, 2003,
http://www.newscientists.com/article/dn3488
.

CHAPTER 6: EINSTEIN’S BRAIN AND ENHANCING INTELLIGENCE

1
“got caught up in the moment”:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/einsteins-brain-arrives-in-london-after-odd-journey
.

2
“I have always maintained that”:
Gould, p. 109.

3
“The human brain remains ‘plastic’ ”:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208257120.htm
.

4
“The emerging picture from such studies”:
Gladwell, p. 40.

5
Five years later, Terman started:
See C. K. Holahan and R.R. Sears,
The Gifted Group in Later Maturity
(Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995).

6
“Your grades in school”:
Boleyn-Fitzgerald, p. 48.

7
“Tests don’t measure motivation”:
Sweeney, p. 26.

8
The pilots who scored highest:
Bloom, p. 12.

9
“The left hemisphere is responsible”:
Ibid., p. 15.

10
Dr. Darold Treffert, a Wisconsin physician:
http://www.daroldtreffert.com
.

11
It took him just forty-five seconds:
Tammet, p. 4.

12
I had the pleasure of interviewing:
Interview with Mr. Daniel Tammet in October 2007 for
Science Fantastic
national radio broadcast.

13
“Our study confirms”:
Science Daily
, March 2012,
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120322100313.htm
.

14
Kim Peek’s brain:
AP wire story, November 8, 2004,
http://www.Space.com
.

15
In 1998, Dr. Bruce Miller:
Neurology
51 (October 1998): pp. 978–82. See also
http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/savant-articles/acquired_savant
.

16
In addition to the savants:
Sweeney, p. 252.

17
This idea has actually been tried:
Center of the Mind, Sydney, Australia,
http://www.centerofthemind.com
.

18
In another experiment, Dr. R. L. Young:
R. L. Young, M. C. Ridding, and T. L. Morrell, “Switching Skills on by Turning Off Part of the Brain,”
Neurocase
10 (2004): 215, 222.

19
“When applied to the prefrontal lobes”:
Sweeney, p. 311.

20
Until recently, it was thought:
Science Daily
, May 2012,
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120509180113.htm
.

21
“Savants have a high capacity”:
Ibid.

22
In 2007, a breakthrough occurred:
Sweeney, p. 294.

23
“Stem cell research and regenerative medicine”:
Sweeney, p. 295.

24
Scientists have focused on a few genes:
Katherine S. Pollard, “What Makes Us Different,”
Scientific American Special Collectors Edition
(Winter 2013): 31–35.

25
“I jumped at the opportunity”:
Ibid.

26
“With my mentor David Haussler”:
Ibid.

27
One such gene was discovered:
TG Daily
, November 15, 2012.
http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/67503-new-found-gene-separates-man-from-apes
.

28
Many theories have been proposed:
See, for example, Gazzaniga,
Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique.

29
“For the first few hundred million years”:
Gilbert, p. 15.

30
“Cortical gray matter neurons are working”:
Douglas Fox, “The Limits of Intelligence,”
Scientific American
, July 2011, p. 43.

31
“You might call it the mother”:
Ibid., p. 42.

CHAPTER 7: IN YOUR DREAMS

1
He followed this up with one thousand:
C. Hall and R. Van de Castle,
The Content Analysis of Dreams
(New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1966).

2
When I interviewed him, he told me:
Interview with Dr. Allan Hobson in July 2012 for
Science Fantastic
national radio broadcast.

3
Studies have shown that it is possible:
Wade, p. 229.

4
ATR chief scientist Yukiyasu Kamitani:
New Scientist
, December 12, 2008,
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16267-mindreading-software-could-record-your-dreams.html#.UvE9P0Qi07s
.

5
When I visited the laboratory:
Visit to Dr. Gallant’s laboratory on July 11, 2012.

6
“Our dreams are therefore not”:
Science Daily
, October 28, 2011,
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111028113626.htm
.

7
Already, prototypes of Internet contact lenses:
See the work of Dr. Babak Parviz,
http://www.wearable-technologies.com/262
.

CHAPTER 8: CAN THE MIND BE CONTROLLED?

1
A raging bull is released:
Miguel Nicolelis,
Beyond Boundaries
(New York: Henry Holt, 2011), pp. 228–32.

2
The cold war hysteria eventually reached:
“Project MKUltra, the CIA’s Program of Research into Behavioral Modification. Joint Hearings Before the Select Committee on Human Resources, U.S. Senate, 95th Congress, First Session,” Government Printing Office, August 8, 1977, Washington, D.C.,
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/13inmate_ProjectMKULTRA.pdf
; “CIA Says It Found More Secret Papers on Behavior Control,”
New York Times
, September 3, 1977; “Government Mind Control Records of MKUltra and Bluebird/Artichoke,”
http://wanttoknow.info/mindcontrol.shtml
; “The Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, Foreign and Military Intelligence.” The Church Committee Report No. 94-755, 94th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 392, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1976; “Project MKUltra, the CIA’s Program of Research in Behavior Modification,”
http://scribd.com/doc/75512716/Project-MKUltra-The-CIA-s-Program-of-Research-in-Behavior-Modification
.