In America, we were able to recreate the image that arises in human thoughts
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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In the United States, joint efforts of staff from three universities managed to create visual images of the participants in the experiment using a brain scanner. Such new technologies, according to the inventors themselves, will help in the future to visualize a person's thoughts.
Detailed experience is described in one of the American scientific journals. The experiment involved six people who were connected to the MRI and then scanned the brain, by measuring the blood flow it was possible to record the activity of different parts of the brain. All the subjects were shown photos and after a while scientists were able to create an image that looked quite similar to the pictures that showed the participants of the experiment. One of the authors of the research project, Alan Cowen, noted that, in fact, their experiment is a reading of human thoughts.
This research project is the first attempt to recreate images appearing in the person's head. Obtained as a result of the tomography of the brain, the images on which the faces are clearly visible are very similar to the photographs shown at the beginning of the experiment. In this case, the tomographs on all the images correctly recreated the color of the skin, out of thirty images, at twenty-four there was a complete coincidence of the mood of the person depicted in the photograph (the presence or absence of a smile). However, it was possible to determine the sex and color of the hair rather badly, in this case the coincidence by the color of the hair was only in half the cases, and the sex in 2/3.
As Cowen said, in the future development of such technologies will help analyze the causes of mental abnormalities in humans. For example, such images will help in the study of autistic consciousness. At the same time, the tomograph of brain activity makes it possible to create not a real image, but an image perceived by a person, as it has long been known that people with different mental disabilities see the world in their own way. With the development of these technologies, it will be possible to create images that people see in their dreams.
As the authors of the research project note, in the future such scanners will also help in the detection of crimes, because with the help of witnesses it will be possible to obtain reliable images of offenders. However, such methods can be used not earlier than in 10 years.
Researchers believe that this kind of technology can not now establish distant memories. In order to recreate the image successfully, a person must think hard about a certain topic, presenting the given image. For this reason, in the next few decades, people have no reason to worry that someone will be able to penetrate and read their thoughts. The lead author of the research noted that if the technology can reach this level, then not earlier than in a couple of centuries.
While American experts try to read people's thoughts, Swiss scientists have already created a device that helps to recognize the thoughts of pets. Now the device, resembling a collar, helps to catch only the basic feelings of animals, such as hunger or joy, but in the plans of inventors to improve the device in order to better understand pets.
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