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Scientific Progress on Neural Implants

Scientists are making progress toward interface devices that can translate electronic signals into impulses that can be understood by the biological nervous system. The result is research on neural implants to help restore impaired senses. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), flexible arrays of parallel, interconnected processing units, are sometimes referred to as the sixth creation of computing. Like humans, they learn by example. Generally, they are primed with certain settings as a starting point, but then adapt in response to immense datasets for which the patterns and correct answers are known. This adaptation changes the weights of the input/output connections between neural processing units to generate predictions that come close to the known correct answers in the training dataset. When the network is doing a good job predicting the correct answers in the training dataset, then it may be used to predict answers for files for which the correct answers are not known. There have been continued advances in brain photo-rendering innovations that provide insight into neural activity. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) likenesses patterns of glucose metabolism throughout the brain which show which regions are experiencing heightened or lesser neural activity. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) will likely show rates of blood flow throughout the brain, which will likely also render indication of neural activity. These picturing techniques, however, just give indirect evidence of neural activity. At this time, detailed mapping of neural activity in specific regions still requires the implantation of electrodes which is too invasive for common use in humans. The five most common human senses -- sight, hearing, feel, taste and smell -- will generally be input/output channels for conversation between humans and computers. Sight, hearing and contact have a higher density for speedy, intricate conveyance and thus can be seen as "broad-band senses" for conversation between humans and machines. Sight and hearing are the most common ways of computer-to-human communication -- through screen show, audio signal and computer-generated speech. Touch is an alternative means of computer-to-human communication which could become more common with a rise in virtual reality, but presently lags far behind sight and hearing as a basis for computer-to-human communication. Click images to learn more about biotechnology/neurotechnology T-shirts: Questions and suggestions concerning the site NeuroEar.com may be sent to: NeuroEar.com © 2006 by NeuroEar.com