The science of consciousness

Saturday, October 15, 2022

Cultured human brain cells can play the game 'Pong'

DishBrain is a culture of at least 800,000 brain cells cultured in a lab. Surprisingly, these "mini-brains" can carry out goal-directed tasks by taking information from an external source, processing it, and responding to it in real-time.

In the experiment, DishBrain made from mouse embryonic brain cells and human stem cells were placed on top of an electrode array hooked up to Pong, an arcade game. Electrical pulses sent to the neurons indicated the position of the ball in the game. DishBrain received a strong and consistent feedback signal (a form of stimulus) when the paddle hit the ball and a short, random pulse when it missed. In turn, signals from the neurons directed the paddle up and down.

Apparent learning occurred within five minutes of real-time gameplay, which was not observed in control conditions. After playing Pong for 20 minutes, the cells were reorganizing, developing networks, and learning. The experiments demonstrate the importance of closed-loop structured feedback in eliciting learning. Synthetic biological intelligence shows self-organization in a goal-directed manner in response to sparse sensory information about the consequences of actions.

The research, "In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a simulated game-world,"

was published in Neuron.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Can brain stimulation improve memory?

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (brain stimulation) is a non-invasive method involving electrodes placed on the surface of the scalp. Brain stimulation of adults aged over 65 with weak electrical currents repeatedly over several days leads to memory improvements lasting for up to a month. Zapping the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — a region near the front of the brain — with high-frequency electrical currents improved long-term memory. Stimulating the inferior parietal lobe, an area further back in the brain, with low-frequency electrical currents boosted working memory. Future studies will have to address whether the memory improvements can persist for longer than a month.

It also remains to be seen if treatment can help people with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Read the article: Brain stimulation leads to long-lasting improvements in memory

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Friday, August 19, 2022

Biological Age may be in the DNA's "Epigenetic Clock"

In biological research, a clock for aging has been sought for a long time. Chronological age refers to the actual amount of time a person has been alive. Chronological age is the number of years a person has been alive. In contrast, biological age refers to relative aging, or life expectation, based on lifestyle factors and the predisposition to certain diseases.

In the nineteen eighties, researchers thought that telomeres might be the cell's clock's mechanism because telomeres, DNA-protein complexes at the ends of chromosomes, shorten each time a cell divides. Furthermore, the correlation of telomere length with age and mortality was thought to be related to age; when telomeres become critically short, cells die. However, scientists learned that telomere length does not track age.

The anti-aging researcher Steve Horvath has developed computational clocks that can estimate the biological ages of organisms and tissues from methylation patterns in their DNA. He found that biological age refers to epigenetic alteration and DNA methylation, which express a person's ability and functioning and whether she has diseases related to old age. Epigenetic modification alters the expression of the gene rather than the genetic code itself. It changes the chemical tags called methyl groups that hang on DNA and help control gene activity.

The epigenetic age can differ from the biological age. Researchers discovered that when the epigenetic clock estimated that someone's age was greater than their chronological age, they faced a higher risk of disease and death. When the clock showed that someone was younger, their risk went down. Even though the epigenetic clock was derived from chronological age data, its algorithm predicted mortality better than age did. The methylation clocks may be the most accurate monitors of biological age today.

Read the article in Nature, The relationship between epigenetic age and the hallmarks of aging in human cells.

Image by Edgar Romero

Monday, August 15, 2022

Why does cognitive demand compromise decision-making?

A new study examined the cognitive burden of mentally taxing assignments. The study examines the metabolic changes in the brain during exhaustion, thereby linking mental fatigue with neurometabolism. Participants working long hours on challenging projects had higher levels of glutamate in the brain's prefrontal cortex by the end of the day than those with more manageable tasks. Glutamate is an essential signaling molecule in the brain, but its accumulation can disrupt brain function.

At the end of the workday, exhausted people are likelier to opt for short-term, easy solutions than meaningful rewards that require a longer wait or involve more effort. Therefore, rests are necessary to restore the proper level and regulation of the molecule.

How does the recovery of glutamate occur in the brain? Some studies indicate that glutamate concentrations decrease during sleep, proportional to EEG slow-wave activity. It is speculated that the extracellular glutamate may be cleared during rest or sleep.

Read more: Wiehler, A., Branzoli, F., Adanyeguh, I., Mochel, F. & Pessiglione, M. Curr. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.010 (2022).

Photo by Ephraim Mayrena on Unsplash

Monday, May 23, 2022

Will artificial intelligence become conscious?

In the last 10 years, the field of robot awareness has made significant progress, and the advances are expected to proceed toward intellect and independent decision-making. Ongoing research is trying to better understand what the new AI programs will be able to do.

In today's AI, connections emulate synapses, the relationships between neurons. The problem-solving ability is expected to improve with the size and complexity of links. Today's AI can translate text, make personal recommendations for books and movies, recognize people in images and videos, and more specialized applications in industry and personal life constantly surprise us. As we have seen with Go, chess, and poker, today's algorithms can best humans in many fields, but algorithms are far from the ability to write a coherent literary masterpiece.

Intelligence is an inescapable consequence of our brain's powers. Although attempts to build supercomputer brains have not even come close to this, it is expected that sooner or later, computers will achieve artificial general intelligence. But, will they ever be conscious?

Although all life processes are based on interaction with the environment, life's fundamental characteristic is homeostasis, a dynamic equilibrium. Sensory abilities lend environmental insight for purposeful behavior to even the most primitive animals. The sensory cycle revolves between an information-rich surrounding and an information-hungry sink (the brain). The processing of the stimulus generates memory, which lends the predictive ability and creates meaning, a fundamental character of intellect. Synaptic complexity, based on interaction with the environment, evolves into an abstract mirroring.

AI systems transform inputs into outputs by manipulating the data as it moves through the layers. For example, the deep neural network (DNN) accumulates intellect from experience by extracting higher-level features from the raw input like the human mind. This is the network's "black box." A deeper understanding of the DNN black box is the topic of my manuscript, WILL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BECOME CONSCIOUS? CAN THERMODYNAMICS EXPLAIN THE EVOLUTION OF INTELLECT?

Saturday, April 2, 2022

Memorization and learning

"A serious man in dealing with severe subjects carefully avoids writing," lamented Plato about writing. He considered unwritten knowledge more profound and seasoned because it could stand up against arguments. Indeed, human thought before the widespread prevalence of writing is notable. Ancient philosophers and sages — Jesus, Buddha, Plato, Aristotle. Laozi (Lao-Tzu) and others — produced the most important philosophical, scientific questions of human thought. Their work remains relevant. The profound work was credited to these great thinkers by contemporary writers, but the ideas might be a culmination of a long evolution of thought.

It is essential to go back to Plato's lament about memorization and reasoned thought. The accepted view is that learning must be based on understanding. Discovering logical connections in a new material makes learning fun, exciting and motivating. However, in any subject matter, lots of information fall outside of logic, such as vocabulary or definitions. Rotary memorization creates automatic associations by long-term potentiation between neuronal connections. Building new connections also weaken old associations. It increases mental flexibility, allowing focus on a larger picture.

Emotion has a vital role in memorization and learning. Emotional experiences are remembered according to their impact. Also, negative emotional experiences are remembered even better than positive ones, such as sensational, violent incidents. Csikszentmihalyi and Hunter have shown that learning imbues long-term psychological capital, inspiring happiness and well-being. A positive attitude in school makes learning pleasurable and highly efficient. Rote learning is viewed as an old-fashioned, shallow learning method with no place within the contemporary school. However, in Asian countries, rote learning is used as a form of meditation, enhancing mood and patience, and emotional stability. It also improves mental capital, which comes in handy when taking international tests or applying for higher learning.

Debates impart fluid, seasoned connections between materials; controversy creates a solid framework to file away knowledge. It ensures the validity of knowledge, proving Plato's point. Writing can cover up inconsistencies in argument, as the falsities of many 'scientific ideas' of the past demonstrate. It might also explain why the depth of philosophical discussions in antiquity was rarely surpassed. How relevant will the sea of scientific information published in prestigious journals remain in the coming years?

How to build a better society? Lively social, political, and scientific conversation and debate on social media form a better community. This would naturally weed out unreliable, fake news items. A well-informed citizenry is emotionally stable and makes good decisions even at the ballot box.

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Trying to predict what is next for COVID-19

Predicting precisely what any virus may do next is next to impossible, but scientists can make an intelligent guess.

The world in which SARS-CoV-2 first emerged at the end of 2019 was different from today's world. The ability of the virus to produce lots of copies of itself and spread between individuals was indeed key to its success early in the pandemic. However, as the number of people immunized through vaccination and naturally acquired infection rises, the virus will experience more pressure to evade immune responses.

Microbes reproduce so rapidly that evolution happens daily. Mutations can help SARS-CoV-2 evade some of the antibodies that the immune system typically directs against the virus receptor. However, very few of the mutations get passed on to new hosts, particularly when only a tiny amount of virus is required to cause an infection. So far, no viral lineage has evolved all three mutations needed for evasion. However, the appearance of such a variant would be a worrying development.

Read: Evolution ''Landscapes'' Predict What's' Next for COVID Virus

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