In the article "Mind Readers" by Lisa Katayama she describes her
experiences visiting the University of California at Berkeley and
learning about the technology research being put forward to create
computers that are able to pull pictures from the brain just by scanning
it. When you see a picture the visual cortex immediately interprets it
(there are an estimated 300 million neurons in the visual cortex alone,)
sending various electrical and chemical signals through the brain. What
Dr Jack Gallant is trying to do is create a mass catalogue of the
different type of signals that different visual stimuli trigger and
using a computer, recreate the scene based on these results. To do this
his team at the Henry H. Wheeler Jr. Brain Imaging Center send many
people through MRI scans and show them pictures, recording the activity
in their brain. Using an algorithm called Baye's theorem they calculate
the probability that the signals they see are associated with the
specific picture. This way they can figure out, with around ninety
percent accuracy, which signals correspond to which aspect of the photo.
So far his computer is able to register some blobby shapes and
movements, so if you think about an elephant crawling across a desert, a
grey Dumbo shaped blob will appear to be crawling across the computer
screen. This is quite impressive, but all around the world scientists
are working on creating brain reading machines for not just pictures,
but emotions and dreams as well. What all these scientists agree on, is
that the first brain reading machines will be in use sometime this
century.
This article is fascinating, because the subject matter sounds like it
comes from a horror science fiction movie, but is actually happening at
this very moment. If such technology was perfected it could help
humankind immensely, affecting many different fields. This technology
could illuminate the inner worlds of those suffering from
hallucinations, post traumatic stress disorders and other cognitive
difficulties, thus aiding doctors in their search for a cure. Judges
could also use this technology in the courtroom, by probing into
suspects brains, and testing to see whether those claiming insanity do
have valid justification. However, many new ethical issues may be
raised, because many are uncomfortable with the idea that our private
thoughts could be subject to snoopers and hackers.
I didn't have any major qualms with this article; I found it very
informative and interesting. The only thing I would change is to spend
less time taking Dr. Gallant's ideas on why the brain is so awesome and
spitting it back at us. We know the brain is awesome already, what we
want to find out is how we can unlock all of this power.
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Tepi did a great job at taking such a detailed as well as complex article and simplifying it. Her writing enabled the reader to take something out of her article. By giving good examples this supported her statements which gave us a knowledge of her topic. I would have never guessed that people are researching how to scan the brain to receive full photographs on the computers! Her specific details, like the estimated three hundred million neurons in the visual cortex helped me better understand her thoughts. Another part about Tepi’s summary, which is my favorite, is how she interpreted this information and stated how this would effect us in the future, positively or negatively. Tepi explained the reasoning behind this which was much better than just stating how this can help, because most likely the reader doesn’t understand. One part that was particularly troubling to me was that sometimes she got lost in explaining her subtopics that I got mixed up with what her point was. When I got confused, I did lose a little focus while reading, because I couldn’t understand. Secondly, Tepi used some higher-level terminology that may have been defined in the original context, but she did not mention what the words like “neurons”, “visual cortex”, or “stimuli trigger” meant. These words did not help me because I could not understand where she was going with her article while using words that were unfamiliar to me. On the other hand, I was overall impressed with how she compared this to a movie, and then basically stated that this is reality. I learned that technology is advancing so rapidly, that it seems hard to believe what scientist are trying to achieve. All in all, a great job Tepi!!
ReplyDelete~Alex Adrian
Tepi, I found your article incredibly interesting. I had no idea that such technology existed, and the fact that it does is so cool! When I first looked at your review I was like “Oh God this is long”, but when I started to read it I found that I was actually quite interested in the subject. Your thoughts on the article were very refreshing and I can tell that you are interested in the topic based on your commentary. I think you did a fantastic job at summarizing the article having it filled with lots of important and fun facts. Although I enjoyed your article immensely and in the end didn’t find it that difficult to read, it would have been nicer if you had just made it a little shorter. I also agree with you that the article itself talked too much about Dr. Gallant’s ideas and it would have been better to leave those out and get right down to what this crazy mind reading business is all about. From reading your review I learned that it is estimated that your visual cortex has 300 million neurons, that’s crazy! Thank you for this article Tepi, it was really cool to read about, good luck with midterms!
ReplyDeleteTepi you did a great job!! My first reaction to your summary was how well you converted a very complicated article into a sophisticated article that is possible to comprehend. One thing I thought you did very well was show her knowledge of the topic through well thought out examples taking from the text. I also thought it was great how you took Dr. Gallant's complicated ideas and converted into a shortened summary. this was very helpful to the reader. i also thought it was great how you gave us the main facts rather then giving us every little complicated detail. I appreciated the way you summarized the complicated article, but this summary was a little long. It was almost like an article in itself! I also think that if you focused in a little less on small details, it would not have been written as confusing as it was. I learned a lot about this outrageously advanced technology through this summary. Overall i thought you did a great job Tepi!!1
ReplyDeleteJanuary 23, 2010
ReplyDeleteChris Marasco
The article review of “Mind Readers”, by Lisa Katayama was fascinating and informative. Information pertaining to computers and their capabilities to pull pictures from the brain was well presented. How the process works was well documented and enabled the reader to grasp the concept of how in the future there will be a brain reading machine. The review took a complex procedure and presented it in an organized fashion.
The article might be improved by shortening some parts and expanding on others. It would be interesting to focus more on the negative aspects associated with the scientific research of brain reading.
Overall the article was very interesting. It was quite an awakening to learn that in this century the first brain reading machine will be in use.
Tepi did a very good job on her review. I likes all the reasons she stated that this hew mind reading technology could be used for. Also Tepi did a good job giving examples of how the new technology works. Tepi also used good vocab words in her review. To improve the lab Tepi could have gone into more detail about the science behind how the mind reading work, because it sounds confusing. I really think this new science could completely change the world if it is perfected. Overall Tepi did a great review on an interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteTepi did a great job with her article review. I like how she went into such detail and was able to describe everything so perfectly. The article she chose was very interesting too read and she did a great job of making it comprehensible. Finally I liked how she went into detail on how this machine would be able to read the brain and display it's thoughts.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that Tepi could have done to make this review better would be to have made it slightly shorter so that the reader doesn't become uninterested.
Overall this was a great article review on a very interesting topic that was hard to understand before Tepi explained it.