- "We present BrainNet which, to our knowledge, is the first multi-person non-invasive direct brain-to-brain interface for collaborative problem solving," write the researchers.
"The interface allows three human subjects to collaborate and solve a task using direct brain-to-brain communication."
In the experiment set up by the scientists, two 'senders' were connected to EEG electrodes and asked to play a Tetris-style game involving falling blocks. They had to decide whether each block needed rotating or not.
To do this, they were asked to stare at one of two flashing LEDs at either side of the screen – one flashing at 15 Hz and the other at 17 Hz – which produced different signals in the brain that the EEG could pick up on.
These choices were then relayed to a single 'receiver' through a TMS cap that could generate phantom flashes of light in the receiver's mind, known as phosphenes. The receiver couldn't see the whole game area, but had to rotate the falling block if a light flash signal was sent.
Kinda sensationalist headline but seeing things in your minds eye that someone else put there, even if its just a flash of light is pretty trippy.
Nope. My guess is mind uploading could be next. If these scientists can connect brains of 3 people, then it won't be surprising if they find a way to transfer our brain data into a computer as well. It's only a matter of time now.
I talked to one of the guys who founded the UW institute for Neuroengineering (which three of the six authors are associated with) backintheday about exactly this maybe 15 years ago. The argument was that coarse manipulation of the brain was easy but fine manipulation was extremely difficult because of problems of resolution. At the time, coarse manipulation was something they figured they weren't going to get to try because of concerns over cell phone radiation. Looks like they finally decided to make a run at it... consent, they were asked to complete a TMS safety screening questionnaire, aimed at identifying potential conditions (such as family history of seizures or frequent migraines) that might represent potential risk factors for adverse side effects of TMS. No participant was rejected for failing the safety questionnaire. In addition to the safety screening, all Receivers underwent a procedure to determine their absolute phosphene threshold, that is, the minimum amount of stimulation necessary to elicit the perception of an induced phosphene 100% of the time. The absolute threshold was assessed using the PEST method25 . During both the testing session and the experimental session, TMS was delivered through a 70-mm Figure-8 Alpha coil (Magstim, UK) positioned over the left occipital lobe, in a location corresponding to site O1 in the 10-20 system. The coil was positioned flushed to the head, with the handle parallel to the ground and extending towards the left. The coil was attached to a SuperRapid2 magnetic stimulator (Magstim, UK). The maximum intensity of the electric field for our TMS equipment is 530 V/m, and with our coil, the maximum intensity of the induced magnetic field is 2.0 T. 2T is in the regime of MRI.Participants playing the role of the Receiver came in for two consecutive sessions. During the first session, as part of informed