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Reverse Engineering the brain

Reverse Engineering the brain. By: Christopher Pietrantoni. What is reverse engineering the brain?. Reverse engineer- to study or analyze in order to learn details of design, construction, and operation, perhaps to produce a copy or an improved version.

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Reverse Engineering the brain

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  1. Reverse Engineering the brain By: Christopher Pietrantoni

  2. What is reverse engineering the brain? • Reverse engineer- to study or analyze in order to learn details of design, construction, and operation, perhaps to produce a copy or an improved version. • Linking the dynamics of neural circuits to behavior. • The operational principles of a neural circuit must be deduced through analysis of its structure and function. • Basically figuring out how the living brain works.

  3. Purpose • Scientists can simulate the brains activities and gain insight about how and why the brain works and fails. • Scientists will be able to test potential biotechnology solutions to brain disorders, such as drugs or neural implants. • Increased computing capability will allow computers to simulate reality. • Computers will be able to process multiple streams of information in parallel rather than the one step at a time.

  4. Applications • AI algorithms used in speech recognition and in machine vision systems. • Cochlear implants • Stimulating electrodes to treat Parkinson’s disease • Devices that can enter the body to perform medical diagnoses and treatments. • Brain controlled artificial limbs.

  5. challenges • Scientists must study the brain while being noninvasive. • Each nerve cell receives messages from tens of thousands of others making it difficult to trace the signaling pathways. • Nerve cells fire at different rates making the code complex. • The electronic logic gates of computers are either on or off but neurons assume various levels of excitation.

  6. Should we reverse engineer the brain? • This topic would fall under William A. Wulf’smacroethical questions in engineering in his article Great Achievements and Grand Challenges. • It is impossible to predict the consequences and behaviors of creating human-like thinking computers.

  7. Opposition • Along with smarter computers come machines that take jobs which does not sit well with some blue collared workers. • Daniel H. Pink, in his book A Whole New Mind, warns the workforce of computers that will take the jobs of those who are predominately left-brain directed thinking.

  8. references • http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9109.aspx • O’Connor, D.H. (Howard Hughes Med. Inst., Ashburn, VA,USA); Huber, D.; Svoboda, K. “Reverse engineering the mouse brain.” Nature, v461, n7266, p923-9, 15 Oct. 2009. Web. • http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/science/10google.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 • Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead Books, 2005, Print. • http://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bridge/EngineeringAchievements/GreatAchievementsandGrandChallenges.aspx

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