Neurostimulation: Halo Sport Neuropriming Headset

And so it begins. Halo has created cool-looking headphones with built-in neuropriming technology, that uses pulses of energy to improve the brain’s response to training, enabling the motor cortex to send stronger, more synchronous signals to muscles. More activated muscle fibers = faster gains in strength.

Apparently, the US Military accelerated pilot and sniper training by 50% with neurotechnology similar to Halo Sport. And if you read the news from yesterdayonimproving your pilot skills by zapping your brain with recorded brain patterns of experienced pilots it sounds fair, plausible and within reach, because halo is also using the tDCS technology.

But the real deal is that brain stimulation devices prepare themselves to go mainstream. Brain-altering gadgets like thync, halo or other neuroelectric wearables are paving the way for new neurocentric brain-machine interfaces, mood-changing services that manually turn up or down happiness and memory augmentation in general. It’s possible that we’re observing nascent signals of a new postnormal revolution, driven by neurotechnologies and electroceuticals.

Sure,hacking the brain is great for health applications and rehabilitation methods. But at the same time I can imagine a lot of socio-technological abuse and misuse. Corporate oppressive mood changes, hacked brainmemories, DIY experiments and emerging neuro-addictions are just the tip of the iceberg. Fun times to be alive.

[halo] [picture by halo]

Improve your pilot skills by zapping your brain with recorded brain patterns of experienced pilots

Researchers at HRL Laboratories have discovered that low-current electrical brain stimulation can modulate the learning of complex real-world skills.

The study, published in an open-access paper in the February 2016 issue of the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, found that novice pilots who received brain stimulation via electrode-embedded head caps improved their piloting abilities, with a 33 percent increase in skill consistency, compared to those who received sham stimulation. “Pilot skill development requires a synthesis of multiple cognitive faculties, many of which are enhanced by tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) and include dexterity, mental arithmetic, cognitive flexibility, visuo-spatial reasoning, and working memory,” the authors note.

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.”

Is there a word for the period, when reality catches up with scifi? Postnormal is a good start. Are there others?

[via kurweilai][paper]