Brain Blogging, Forty-Eight Edition

Welcome to the forty-eight edition of Brain Blogging. In this round, we discuss the feasibility of brain transplantation, how to use your mind properly, the brain computer interface with a wireless neurosociety, and other topics.

Remember, we review the latest blogs related to the brain and mind that go beyond the basic sciences into a more human and multidimensional perspective. You can check out our archive for past editions.

For future carnivals, please remember to submit your blog entries using the online submission form. We will do our best to review and include your entry! Enjoy your readings…

It’s All in the Mind…

The Viewspaper writes Brain Transplant: Is it Feasible and Achievable?:

In layman’s terms, brain transplant is nothing but transferring the brain of one individual into the body of another. Amusingly, there has always been a debate on whether it should be called brain transplantation or body transplantation. Nevertheless, this whole idea has not yet taken shape due to the inability of the scarred nerve cells to heal properly thereby hampering smooth and accurate signal transmissions. Besides, the interface with the spinal chord challenges the feasibility of the whole process as the nerves may not really match. In other words, transplantation might cause the nerve endings controlling one part to connect to the nerve ending controlling some other part resulting in utter chaos and lack of synchrony.

The Quantum Lobe Chronicles writes The neural correlates of lucid dreaming:

In a recent study Voss and colleagues over at Bonn University in collaboration with Hobson at Harvard Medical School decided to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of lucid dreaming. They attempted to train 20 undergraduate students in the art of lucid dreaming via pre-sleep autosuggestions over a four month period and were able to successfully train 6. These subjects then spent a few nights at a sleep lab hooked up to an EEG machine. Only half were able to experience lucid dreaming during their stay(now you can see how tough it actually is to induce a lucid dream).

Proenrichment writes Actify Your Mind With Music:

Neuroscience is on the verge of a breakthrough to learn about the effects of music to the mind. The interesting part of the learning is that your favourite music arouses many parts and the inner recesses of our brain called ‘basal ganglia’.

Abstract Thoughts writes The delusion of always wanting more:

Compare what you have today to your ancestors- Abundances of clothing, lighting, heating & cooling systems in your home- These would have all been considered extreme luxuries just a couple of hundred years ago. You can find any information you could possibly ever need by punching it into a search engine- Something unimaginable not that long ago. Month long journeys by ship have been replaced by a few hours in an air conditioned plane being served beverages while watching your in-flight movie.

iDevelopWorld writes How to use your mind properly?:

While animals and humans both have the ability to sense the world around them, we as humans are unique because we can go beyond just what we perceive with our senses. We also have a mental life where we can questions and critique the world around us. Not only that, we can think about how we think. Are you confused yet?

The Emotion Machine writes Hypnosis Research and Neuroscience:

Some individuals are more hypnotizable than others; research seems to suggest that those with a bigger anterior corpus callosum, which is a part of the brain thought to help focus attention, has show to associate with higher hypnotizability.

Brain Stimulant writes Brain-Computer Interface and the Wireless Neurosociety:

Researchers are also developing smart homes that could be controlled by brain computer interfaces. Imagine being able to turn on your television, brighten lights or open doors solely with the power of your own mind. A thought reading helmet that could allow people to fly an airplane with their brain power is in the works as well. So it seems possible that a single sophisticated BCI may enable a person to exert control over their house, their car and communicate with others telepathically.

Scientific Living writes Judging By Potential:

When a person forms a judgment, it is based on that persons own standards. Who is to say that those standards apply to the other person? When we judge, really on a certain level, we are at least in part claiming to ourselves that our standards are alone right, and that other standards are not acceptable. Standards differ not only in degree, but in kind.