Natural brain state is primed to learn [19Aug11] - 0 views
www.newscientist.com/...-state-is-primed-to-learn.html
neuroscience brain EEG learning technology opportunities
shared by Dan R.D. on 19 Aug 11
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To investigate further, the team attempted to boost subsequent participants' memory test scores by presenting them with images only when they showed this pattern of brain activity. "There was around a 30 per cent improvement in the memory task," Gabrieli says (NeuroImage, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.07.063).
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The MIT team is now working on a way to monitor this "preparedness to learn" using electroencephalography (EEG) - a more portable and much cheaper brain-monitoring technique. Gabrieli's idea is to make learning more efficient by selectively teaching the prepared brain. "You could imagine a computer-based learning system which would stop when the brain is not prepared to learn and restart when it is," he says.
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"Optimising these brain regions would provide a more sophisticated way of approaching a learning task," says Cohen. "It's a very exciting idea."
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"Combining brain stimulation with Gabrieli's approach could take performance to the next level," says Cohen. He suggests training an individual once they have entered the preparedness state, and then stimulating areas of the brain known to be involved in memory consolidation to cement the learning process: perhaps the ultimate in brain optimisation.