{"id":676,"date":"2010-08-20T00:59:46","date_gmt":"2010-08-20T04:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/ombs\/?p=676"},"modified":"2010-08-20T00:59:46","modified_gmt":"2010-08-20T04:59:46","slug":"subconscious-security-our-next-big-life-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/2010\/08\/20\/subconscious-security-our-next-big-life-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"Subconscious Security: Our Next Big Life Investment?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.addthis.com\/bookmark.php?v=250&amp;username=xa-4bb6bcc8320e5dd9\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif\" alt=\"Bookmark and Share\" width=\"125\" height=\"16\" \/><\/a><script src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4bb6bcc8320e5dd9\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Have you seen the hit summer movie, <em>Inception<\/em>, yet? If not, I recommend you to, because it\u2019s mind bottling (Yeah, <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-677\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2010\/08\/anchorman_-734679-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"anchorman_-734679\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><em>Anchorman<\/em>\u2019s Ron Burgundy would approve). Either way though, seen it or not, the movie tweaked my curiosity about the ever-growing interaction between technology and our brains, our minds.<\/p>\n<p>In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio\u2019s character, Cobb, is on a mission to plant an idea into another character&#8217;s mind in order to safely, legally, go home to his kids.<\/p>\n<p>Cobb and his colleagues use a\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 13.3333px\">PASIV (Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous) <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 13.3333px\">device to access the target\u2019s mind while he is sleeping on an airplane.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>U<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-678 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2010\/08\/Inception-production-still-4-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Inception-production-still-4\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/>nfortunately for Cobb\u2019s team, the target\u2019s mind has what Cobb calls \u201csubconscious security,\u201d trained mental &#8220;projections&#8221; set up in his mind to protect it from intruders. To implant the idea, they have to find a way around this security, but how? Will they make it? The movie\u2019s a must-see \u2013 watch and find out!<\/p>\n<p>So, how is this far-off movie-world of inception, dream-sharing, and mind-reading relevant, or worthy of discussion at present?<\/p>\n<p>Well, haven\u2019t fMRI results been cluing us in on some of our emotions, conscious or not? In my last post, I discussed how one\u2019s level of empathy correlates with the activity of the ACC (anterior cingulate cortex) as recorded by an fMRI. Whether lab volunteers knew it or not, they (their brains, really) reacted more actively to the pain of those similar to them.<\/p>\n<p>And now, with the rapid succession of advancements in brain-imaging technology, mind-reading and even dream-recording does not seem so unrealistic. \u201cSubconscious security\u201d might actually come in handy if our privacy becomes too vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>Recent articles (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2010\/07\/100730191712.htm\">one<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.time.com\/time\/health\/article\/0,8599,2009131,00.html\">two<\/a>) discuss how researchers at Northwestern University have discovered technology that can be used to \u201cget inside the mind of a terrorist.\u201d In their experiment, they created a mock terror-attack plan with details known and memorized only by some lab participants. The researchers found a correlation between the participants&#8217; P300 brain waves and their guilty knowledge with \u201c100 percent accuracy,\u201d as J.P. Rosenfeld says.<\/p>\n<p>Measuring the waves using electrodes attached to the participants&#8217; scalps, they were able to determine whether they had prior knowledge of, or strong familiarity with, certain dates, places, times, etc.<\/p>\n<p>While TIME writer Eben Harrell notes the threat this type of experiment has on privacy and its clear limitations (\u201cconfounding factors\u201d such as familiarity, not because of guilty knowledge but of fond memories, i.e. a hometown), he also notes that interrogations can be more detrimental than these experiments. Accuracy can be improved upon simply by presenting more details to participants.<\/p>\n<p>In her 2008 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/dn16267\">article<\/a>, Celeste Biever tells readers how scientists, particularly Yukiyasi Kamitani and his colleagues, have come to analyze brain scans and reconstruct images the lab volunteers had seen in their mind. The scientists believe their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cell.com\/neuron\/fulltext\/S0896-6273%2808%2900958-6\">work<\/a> has potential to improve reconstructions to finer focus and even color.<\/p>\n<p>John-Dylan Haynes of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, referred to in Biever\u2019s article, says that the \u201cnext step is to find out if it is possible to image things that people are thinking of.\u201d He even considers the possibility of making \u201ca videotape of a dream\u201d in the near future.<\/p>\n<p>However, as Berns points out in an August 2010 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/mg20727721.300-mindreading-marketers-have-ways-of-making-you-buy.html\">article<\/a> written by Graham Lawton and Clare Wilson, ethical issues <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-679\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2010\/08\/canvas.png\" alt=\"canvas\" width=\"214\" height=\"151\" \/>would likely be raised if this brain-imaging technology begins to bind too intimately with advertising and marketing companies. People would probably feel uncomfortable if advertising becomes too knowledgeable of the workings of their minds, perhaps even enticing them to buy things they \u201cdon\u2019t want, don\u2019t need, and can\u2019t afford.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For now though, the advertising approaches using this technology seem innocent enough. With EEG machines, advertisers can determine which designs, words, or advertisements receive certain patterns of brain activity \u2013 in other words, receive the most attention from potential buyers.<\/p>\n<p>Not only have EEG machines been used by advertisers, but also by sales companies \u2013 for both purposes inspiring and not so inspiring. Starting with the latter, some companies (i.e., Mattel, Emotiv) have sold cheap EEG devices to \u201cmainstream consumers,\u201d particularly gamers. One Californian company, NeuroSky, has built an emotion-detecting device, determining, per se, whether one is relaxed or anxious.<\/p>\n<p>While not completely necessary or inspiring, devices like these are fascinating. I\u2019d like to see what some device thinks I\u2019m feeling, and how accurate it is.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, there are inspiring purposes for these EEG devices. As discussed by Tom Simonite in his April 2009 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/dn17009-innovation-mindreading-headsets-will-change-your-brain.html\">article<\/a>, those with disabilities or paralysis can use the devices to help control wheel chairs and even type on a computer. One engineer, Adam Wilson, even updated his Twitter using one of these systems (BCI2000): \u201cUSING EEG TO SEND TWEET.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not only can EEG devices help those with disabilities or paralysis, but prosthetic limbs can also. Professors at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Weiss and Hofmann, discuss in their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uni-jena.de\/en\/News\/PM100806_Prosthesis-page-0.html\">article<\/a> that one of their systems allows the brain to \u201cpick up\u2026feedback from the prosthesis as if it was one\u2019s own hand,\u201d easing phantom pain.<\/p>\n<p>DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has allowed prostheses to advance even more than this, aspiring to bring back to wearers the experience of touch. They awarded The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) over $30 million to &#8220;manage and test the Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL),&#8221; which would <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-680\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2010\/08\/canvas2.png\" alt=\"canvas2\" width=\"147\" height=\"172\" \/>use a &#8220;brain-controlled interface&#8221; to perform desired actions.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the hurdles along the way (as noted by Andew Nusca in his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.smartplanet.com\/business\/blog\/smart-takes\/darpa-aims-to-control-prosthetic-limbs-with-brain-implants\/4890\/\">blog<\/a>), the lab has released a final design, as described in a reprinted online <a href=\"http:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/darpa-thought-control-prosthetic-limbs\/\">article<\/a>. It offers an amazing 22 degrees of motion, weighs the average nine-pound weight of a natural limb and responds to the wearer\u2019s thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>While the blooming relationship between technology and the brain has raised ethical questions about privacy and its use, it has also brought hope and awe to people. Maybe, with the seeming innocence of neuro-marketing thus far and the hope inspired by research and development, we won&#8217;t need to turn to \u201csubconscious security\u201d just yet.<\/p>\n<p>Sources:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2010\/07\/100730191712.htm\">Reading Terrorists Minds About Imminent Attack: Brain Waves Correlate to Guilty Knowledge in Mock Terrorism Scenarios<\/a> \u2013 Science Daily (reprint)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.time.com\/time\/health\/article\/0,8599,2009131,00.html\">Fighting Crime by Reading Minds<\/a> \u2013 Eben Harrell of TIME<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/dn16267\">&#8216;Mind-reading&#8217; software could record your dreams<\/a> \u2013 Celeste Biever of New Scientist<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cell.com\/neuron\/fulltext\/S0896-6273%2808%2900958-6\">Visual Image Reconstruction from Human Brain Activity using a Combination of Multiscale Local Image Decoders<\/a> \u2013 Kamitani, et. al of Neuron<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/mg20727721.300-mindreading-marketers-have-ways-of-making-you-buy.html\">Mind-reading marketers have ways of making you buy<\/a> \u2013 Graham Lawton and Clare Wilson of New Scientist<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/dn17009-innovation-mindreading-headsets-will-change-your-brain.html\">Mind-reading headsets will change your brain<\/a> \u2013 Tom Simonite of New Scientist<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.uni-jena.de\/en\/News\/PM100806_Prosthesis-page-0.html\">Prosthesis with information at its fingertips<\/a> \u2013 Weiss and Hofmann of FS University of Jena<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.smartplanet.com\/business\/blog\/smart-takes\/darpa-aims-to-control-prosthetic-limbs-with-brain-implants\/4890\/\">DARPA aims to control prosthetic limbs with brain implants <\/a>\u2013 Andrew Nusca of Smart Planet<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/darpa-thought-control-prosthetic-limbs\/\">Thought Control of Prosthetic Limbs Funded by DARPA<\/a> <\/strong>\u2013 Neuroscience News (reprint)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you seen the hit summer movie, Inception, yet? If not, I recommend you to, because it\u2019s mind bottling (Yeah, Anchorman\u2019s Ron Burgundy would approve). Either way though, seen it or not, the movie tweaked my curiosity about the ever-growing interaction between technology and our brains, our minds. In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio\u2019s character, Cobb, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7094,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[596,755,783,962,1017],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}