Neuroscience
In the film "The Matrix," a device capable of learning through a direct stimulation of the brain enables characters to learn martial arts and how to fly a helicopter in seconds. Now, researchers at HRL Laboratories, have discovered that low-current electrical brain stimulation can modulate the learning of complex real-world skills.
In a study published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, researchers tested novice pilots who received brain stimulation via electrode-embedded head caps to see if it improved their flying abilities. The results indicated a 33 percent increase in skill consistency, compared to those who received a placebo stimulation.
"We'll likely see these technologies become routine in training and classroom environments"
“We measured the brain activity patterns of six commercial and military pilots, and then transmitted these patterns into novice subjects as they learned to pilot an airplane in a realistic flight simulator,” says Matthew Phillips, PhD, a researcher at HRL Laboratories.Phillips and his team of investigators from HRL's Information & System Sciences Laboratory used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to improve learning and skill retention.
“We measured the average g-force of the plane during the simulated landing and compared it to control subjects who received a mock brain stimulation,” says Phillips.
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Previous research has demonstrated that tDCS can both help patients more quickly recover from a stroke and boost a healthy person's creativity, HRL's study is one of the first to show that tDCS is effective in accelerating practical learning.Phillips speculates that the potential to increase learning with brain stimulation may make this form of accelerated learning
commonplace. "As we discover more about optimizing, personalizing, and adapting brain stimulation protocols, we'll likely see these technologies become routine in training and classroom environments," he says. "It's possible that brain stimulation could be implemented for classes like drivers' training, SAT prep, and language learning."
“Pilot skill development requires a synthesis of multiple cognitive faculties, many of which are enhanced by tDCS and include dexterity, mental arithmetic, cognitive flexibility, visuo-spatial reasoning, and working memory,” the authors note.
The researchers conclude that applying such interventions in the real-world will require a much larger investment than initially anticipated in order for the scientific community to measure and catalog the precise behavioral, learning, and neurophysiological changes resulting from each component of procedural skill acquisition.
"There appears to be a differential, region-based effect of neurostimulation interventions, it is critical to determine the optimal targets, stimulation parameters, timing relative to the target behaviors, and synchrony between innate learning processes and strategies and exogenous stimulation for maximally-effective augmentation," they write.
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