AI Implants In The Brain Can Improve Mood Disorders Too!

The first post I blogged about was how Artificial Intelligence (AI) was planted into subjects’ brains and showed improvements in their recall of memory. This could then help those with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. In order for the implant to work, it sends electrical impulses to the part of the brain where memory gets recalled, and the impulses only occur when the person is having trouble recalling those memories. Recently, researchers have tried to improve chronic depression by stimulating the brain constantly, though it did not work.  Though, new studies suggest that to improve mood disorders such as PTSD or depression, they would have to create a brain implant that be switched on only when necessary; Similar to how the AI implant works to recall memories.

Massachusetts General Hospital, funded by the U.S’s military research arm, and supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),  conducted a study using epilepsy patients. They did not want to identify the mental illness, but to map the brain activity associated with the behaviors like concentration and empathy. They found that delivering electrical pulses to areas of the brain involved in decision-making and emotion significantly improved the performance of test participants. The team also mapped the brain activity that occurred when a person began failing or slowing at a set task because they were forgetful or distracted, and found they were able to reverse it with stimulation. This breakthrough could mean possibilities of treating mental illnesses in the brain directly through the skull. Much more studies and research is need, though it is exciting to know that AI technologies can benefit the health of many people in a wide range of ways.

Too Good of a Memory May Require Better “Brakes”

Too much of anything is never a good thing. Even if it may seem harmless, too much of it will eventually become toxic. Snacks, water, alcohol, and posture can all come with a consequence if not maintained properly. The same concept goes for your memory. Having too strong of a memory will not only result in remembering the important or the good information, it will also include the bad and hurtful information. Those with disorders like PTSD and schizophrenia constantly receive negative and traumatic information. They cannot help recalling these terrible thoughts due to a complication within the brain. For those without complications, we are able block embarrassing or heart breaking moments from constantly reoccurring. However, a new study has found a new way to treat such disorders with a simple idea; These patients need new memory “brakes”.

The study taken place was held by a neuroscience Michael Anderson of the University of Cambridge and his team. They found that conditions like schizophrenia had an increase activity within the hippocampus (region of memory) and a decrease of activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). In another study, Anderson and his team studied healthy subjects and found that when they suppressed thoughts, the hippocampus activity decreased and the PFC increased. The prefrontal cortex is where most researchers thought to be the only problem site due to it controlling most of the brain’s functions. However, Anderson and his team concluded that the stop or brake command from the PFC was suppose to suppress hippocampus activity. Those without  brakes suffered from conditions like PTSD and schizophrenia.

Finding any new information about the brain and it’s memory is a scientific breakthrough due to how little we understand it. This study can link other studies involving human behavior and neuroscience, which can then lead us closer in comprehending how our memory works. Though what must be done now is to develop cures or enhancements that can maintain the optimal amount of recalled memory in a person.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)

Childhood trauma can severely affect a person’s health for the rest of their life. Now there are many types of stress, but the one I am speaking about is not the stress of losing a toy or failing a test. Chronic stress occurs in children when neglect or abuse is present in the child’s life. It does not have to be direct abuse either, their parents undergoing chronic stress and substance abuse can lead their child to their own health issues. The study behind childhood abuse and its connection to long-term health conditions is known as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE). With the help of Nadine Harris, author of the book, “The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity”, ACE is finally becoming a new household name that should have been many years ago.

High dosages of stress can inhibit the brain functions and cause current health complications or ones further down the road. Most adults can tolerate certain levels of stress but as a child, the tolerable stress level is very limited. If a child experiences a traumatic event early on in their life, it will increase chronic inflammation and risk autoimmune diseases like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis or asthma. Harris has experienced many cases of abrupt illnesses due to child adversity. She at first had a hard time discovering that child adversity was the reason for these strange symptoms, she states, “And then I got to the patient that I talk about in the book, Diego, a 7-year-old boy who seemed to have stopped growing after a sexual assault at age 4. For me, that was the case that made me stop in my tracks and say there is something else going on here and I need to get to the bottom of it.” (nytimes.com, 2018) 

For many adults who develop unreasonable health issues like heart disease, stokes, or arthritis, do not recognize the connection between a previous traumatic event and their health state. Sometimes it is never recognized and that is one of the reasons Harris shares us her stories in her book. More light needs to be shed onto ACE in order to prevent and cure these complex illnesses. Once more and more people understand ACE, perhaps the amount of abuse incidents will reduce and the many unsolved medical cases will find their answers.

Childhood Memories: The Assault on Health

Some of us cherish our childhood, others wish to forget it. But no matter how hard one may try to forget, it always comes back around. Adults who have witnessed or was a victim to abuse, drugs, or sexual assault as young children, will never cease to remove that part of their life. While it may shape them into a more suitable person, their minds will not ever forget, leading to harmful affects of their health.

In the book, “The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity”, by Nadine Burke Harris, M.D, she brings aloud many detailed stories of grown adults and children going through surprising health issues. At first many of the patients do not realize what the reason for the heart attacks, strokes, ADHD, or stunts in growth are due to. However, once the the doctors learn about their childhood, all the answers fall into place.

Nadine Burke Harris, M.D, is the founder and CEO of the Center for Youth Wellness in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point. She was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award in 2016, and had her own TED Talk about children trauma affecting their health. This is her first book and many love her approach to telling people about the connection between childhood adversity and health. One Book review, by Jane Ellen Stevens, mentions how she hopes readers do not get the idea that this only happens within inner-city communities. Although, Harris has worked hard to prove this notion to be untrue. Stevens believes this book will inspire millions upon millions of people about the science behind this issue.

 

Can A.I Assist in a Cure for Alzheimer’s Disease?

In the first few years of of Alzheimer’s disease, a person can lose 15% of memory. While that may appear as an insignificant percentage, recovering it through an A.I system represents a massive groundbreaking outcome. Memory is one of the most essential qualities to living a prosperous lifestyle. We use it to encode, store and retain new facts, as well as recalling past moments, expressions, skills, and habits. We carry these memories forward which form who we are as a person, and impacts our behavior today to permits us a much more fulfilling life. Ultimately, recovering any percentage of memory that is held in limbo is beneficial and crucial to people of all ages.

Younger people are just as affected in memory loss than those at an elder age. Those younger than 65 years old are just as capable of showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, it also known as early onset Alzheimer’s disease, and it is one of the most heart wrenching brain disorders known today. The progressive and irreversible damages include the destruction of a person’s memory, the ability to learn, judge, communicate, and perform daily activities. Sandy, an elderly man who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease, describes his life changing moments to a CNN reporter.“In Sandy’s mind, it is 1956. He is 6 years old…He finds comfort in old memories because they are still available to him, often triggered by favorite songs and old photographs. “My biggest problem is my short-term memory,” he [Sandy] says. “It’s my ability to recall what I said, what I did, what I need to do, and that’s steady through a day.”(CNN.com). In the CNN article, Sandy’s wife, Gail Halperin, offers her perspective as well, “It is a horrifying, gripping, devastating disease that plays havoc on the family and on the patient,”. She then adds that the way Sandy responded has helped alleviate the impact of all this. “He immediately came out and said, ‘I don’t want to cover this up. I want to share it with people and be proactive,'” she says.  People, like Sandy, who have continuously given light to such a dark situation, are the reason why revolutionary technologies are continuously being invented. If all goes well, eventually a new algorithm system will save people from a great deal of detriment, both for the patient and their families.

 

Scientist Found New Way to Boost Memory (Through A.I Of Course)

 

The human brain is one object we cannot simply wrap our minds around. Its unique intricacy and the unceasing amount of questions left unanswered, brings us to what some may consider “desperate measures”. We all know Artificial Intelligence (A.I) is super powerful and can be scary to rationalize, though with optimal construction and a cautious mindset, A.I can provide us plentiful answers to our unconcluded inquires. With that being said, A.I has exceeded our expectations once again by proving their capabilities in comprehending our brain better than we ever could.

In the latest issue of Nature Communications, researchers teamed up with psychologist Michael Kahana, from University of Pennsylvania, and concluded that machines who can process algorithms can also be used to interpret and strengthen the human memory. The failure of our memory is due to ineffective converting of information. This is where A.I comes in. Scientist utilized 25 epilepsy patients who have over 100 electrodes implanted in their cranium (to test seizure-related electric activity) and studied their brain patterns while performing memory tests. After many days of testing and collecting loads of data, the scientists began utilizing the electrodes to stimulate the brain by emitting timed electric pulses to retrieve newly created memories. Overall, it worked as planned and it increased the patients’ memory by 15%, “roughly the amount that Alzheimer’s disease steals over two and a half years.”(Nytimes.com).

Now that this new innovation has proven itself to be rewarding and advantageous, many other neuro-mechanical algorithms can be constructed in the future to further enhance or cure other mental diseases and disabilities. At least that is the goal, but for now, they are many questions and ethics to be considered before moving ahead. For instance, the substantial amounts of electrodes that are required to be placed into the cranium would call for an extremely cautious procedure, allowing time and costs for only for the most severe cases. In other words, students will still require studying for exams rather than cramming and relying on an A.I system for memory enhancements.