Time travel with your brain
People saw pictures and later tried to recall what they had seen… the study showed that the participants' brain state gradually aligned with their brain state from when they first studied the pictures. The study was conducted by Dr. Kenneth Norman and reported in the Dec. 23 issue of Science… participants studied images in three categories -- celebrity faces, famous locations and common objects -- and then attempted to recall the images. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) captured the participants' brain activity patterns as they studied the images. The researchers then trained a computer program to distinguish between the patterns of brain activity associated with studying faces, locations or objects.
The fMRI later tracked participants' brain activity as they recalled the images to see how well it matched the patterns associated with the initial viewing of the images. … patterns of brain activity for specific categories, such as faces, started to emerge approximately five seconds before subjects recalled items from that category -- suggesting that participants were bringing to mind the general properties of the images in order to cue for specific details. Science Daily
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This is excellent research. But first, here is a line I cut from the report. “This supports the theory that memory retrieval is a form of mental time travel.” Good for a laugh. At least for those who understand the difference between a scientific theory and a reporter’s metaphor.
What the research showed was that the people were using different brain modules to store the different kinds of images. Prior evidence suggested that these kinds of images would be store in different modules. The researchers were confirming the conclusion and demonstrating that fMRI and the pattern analysis could distinguish among the modules.
They were also demonstrating that retrieval from memory is based on activating the same modules that were active in storage. Just as with a computer. You write something to disk; you go back to the same address to retrieve it. But this research demonstrated that fMRI could observe the read and write operation in the brain.
The study reinforces what psychologists have long known about memory. If you want to remember something that you have learned, use your imagination to go back to the time and place when you learned it. Use your imagination to look around that place for cues.
(If you are going to do this on a TV show, you bring in an actor who is supposed to be a hypnotist. The actor goes through impressive rituals and says what I just said in the previous paragraph. The other actor, who is trying to remember, follows the instructions and comes up with an amazing recall. The hypnotist is mainly a dramatic device to present mental activity on TV. If you don’t have a hypnotist, just imagine one. This may not work as well as on TV, but that’s because they have a better script.)
The study also reinforces what psychologists have said about cueing a future memory. Imagine when and where you are going to recall the memory. Imagine what you will see, hear, and do just before you need the memory.
If you like, you can imagine that you are powering up the brain modules that you need for the time, the place, and the job. Or you can imagine that these brain jobs are mental time travel. A visit to the future may be just what you need to get ready.
The fMRI later tracked participants' brain activity as they recalled the images to see how well it matched the patterns associated with the initial viewing of the images. … patterns of brain activity for specific categories, such as faces, started to emerge approximately five seconds before subjects recalled items from that category -- suggesting that participants were bringing to mind the general properties of the images in order to cue for specific details. Science Daily
---
This is excellent research. But first, here is a line I cut from the report. “This supports the theory that memory retrieval is a form of mental time travel.” Good for a laugh. At least for those who understand the difference between a scientific theory and a reporter’s metaphor.
What the research showed was that the people were using different brain modules to store the different kinds of images. Prior evidence suggested that these kinds of images would be store in different modules. The researchers were confirming the conclusion and demonstrating that fMRI and the pattern analysis could distinguish among the modules.
They were also demonstrating that retrieval from memory is based on activating the same modules that were active in storage. Just as with a computer. You write something to disk; you go back to the same address to retrieve it. But this research demonstrated that fMRI could observe the read and write operation in the brain.
The study reinforces what psychologists have long known about memory. If you want to remember something that you have learned, use your imagination to go back to the time and place when you learned it. Use your imagination to look around that place for cues.
(If you are going to do this on a TV show, you bring in an actor who is supposed to be a hypnotist. The actor goes through impressive rituals and says what I just said in the previous paragraph. The other actor, who is trying to remember, follows the instructions and comes up with an amazing recall. The hypnotist is mainly a dramatic device to present mental activity on TV. If you don’t have a hypnotist, just imagine one. This may not work as well as on TV, but that’s because they have a better script.)
The study also reinforces what psychologists have said about cueing a future memory. Imagine when and where you are going to recall the memory. Imagine what you will see, hear, and do just before you need the memory.
If you like, you can imagine that you are powering up the brain modules that you need for the time, the place, and the job. Or you can imagine that these brain jobs are mental time travel. A visit to the future may be just what you need to get ready.
posted by Selby Evans at 9:25 AM
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