Mike SilvermanRodion Stolyar

Francis McCarthy

The Power of Modern Neuroscience

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nsjDnYxJ0bo#!

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

History• First “Brain Imaging

Experiment”

• Angelo Mosso

• Italian Physiologist

• Major Break through

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

How does fMRI work?• What causes an fMRI signal? Is it A or B?

• A) fMRI measures the REDUCTION in the amount of paramagnetic deoxygenated hemoglobin in neural tissue from a resting state to an active state.

• B) fMRI measures the INCREASE in the amount of paramagnetic deoxygenated hemoglobin in neural tissue from a resting state to an active state.

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

Resting State Active State

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

How does fMRI work?

Just and Mitchell’s Methods• fMRI data from 9 healthy college aged

participants• Randomly viewed 60 different word-

picture pairs 6x• Signal for each word-picture pair was

recorded and averaged.• Average signal used as baseline and

compared to new fMRI signal from a new participant

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

Tom Mitchell

Marcel Just

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

Repeated for all 9 participants.

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

Do different people have the same type of brain activation patterns?

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

NEW participant gets in the fMRI machine and looks at the same word-picturesBUT this time the computer does not know what pictures the participant is looking at, it ONLY sees the brain activity pattern

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

Do different people have the same type of brain activation?

New participants’brain activity patterns

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

Have you been here before?

John-Dylan Haynes

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

John-Dylan Haynes

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

John-Dylan Haynes

The earliest technique to see unconscious processing.

Haynes elaborates on this phenomenon.

Neural decision before conscious awareness of the decision

EEG signals before the “feeling of wanting” entered consciousness!

Challenged our concept of free will

Conscious decision

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

John-Dylan Haynes

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

John-Dylan Haynes

Step 2: give to computer to classify

Step 1: decode

Step 3: predict

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

John-Dylan Haynes

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

Conclusions

• Using fMRI data, software can now accurately predict what a human is thinking.

• fMRI data is incredibly useful and flexible. • Mind “Reading” is now a reality in laboratories

with fMRI machines.

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

In the realm of criminal justice, do you think brain pattern activation is equivocal with physical evidence such as DNA, semen, etc. or is it equivocal with personal testimony and protected by the fifth amendment?

Discussion question 1

1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

Can we be decisive when making conclusions about what a pattern of brain activity means?

i.e. What if my brain says “I love chocolate chip cookies” but I say that I don’t like chocolate chip cookies at all.Can we be CERTAIN?

Discussion question 2

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1. Mind ReadingSummary

2. Simple thought representation

3. Familiar environments

4. Complex thought representation

5. Conclusions and Discussion

We mentioned Hayne’s study where Haynes could predict what decision you’re going to make 7 seconds before you are consciously aware of your own decision. Do you think this interferes with the notion of free will?

Discussion question 3

The End SkyNet is coming…be prepared…