A new University of Washington study on brain-computer interface confirmed the popular belief that practice makes perfect and is touted as the future of human race.
A new brain-computer interface technology has been creating waves in the science works. By placing small electrodes on or inside the brain, patients are able to mentally interact with computers and use their brains to move the cursor on screen. This technology, which can even control robotic limbs, can prove to be very helpful for paralyzed people or patients who have lost the ability to speak.
In a new study that analyzed the brain computer technology, seven patients with severe epilepsy who were hospitalized for a monitoring procedure to identify the location of seizures in the brain, were examined. Their scalps were cut open and a thin sheet of electrodes was placed on the top of their brains by drilling into their skulls.
While the patients were asked to interact with a computer, the researchers of the study looked for seizure signals. Patients were asked to move the cursor on the screen with their thoughts alone. Electrodes that were placed in the brain caught signals directing the cursor to move. These signals were then sent to an amplifier and then to a computer to be analyzed. Researchers found that at first a lot of the patients' brain activities were focused in the prefrontal cortex. After 10 minutes of practice, frontal brain activity lessened and the brain patterns looked similar to those seen during more automatic actions.
Jeffrey Ojemann, one of the researchers in the University of Washington study states that this technology can act as a brain marker, which can determine whether a person has learnt a task or not. The findings of the study not only help better understand the mapping of the brain but can also help improve the brain-computer interface, which can later be used to make better devices for people in need of them.
"This is one push as to how we can improve the devices and make them more useful to people," said Jeremiah Wander, one of the researchers, in a press release. "If we have an understanding of how someone learns to use these devices, we can build them to respond accordingly."
The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
