Brain to Brain Interface: UW links two human brains for question-and-answer experiment
“When you cut into the present, the future leaks out…“
In 2013, humans were able to trigger movement in a rat’s tail using their minds. Last year, scientists have successfully transported words from one brain to another over the internet and were able to use a similar process to control the hand motions of another person within a split second of sending that signal. Furthermore scientist have developed a brain-to-computer interface that enables people to control drones with their minds and sucessfully linked two animal brains to a brain-network.
Now researchers from the University of Washington used a direct brain-to-brain connection to allow pairs of participants to play a 20 questions-style game by transmitting signals from one brain to the other over the Internet. The experiment is thought to be the first to show that two brains can be directly linked to allow one person to guess what’s on another person’s mind.
Here’s how it works: The first participant, or “respondent,” wears a cap connected to an electroencephalography (EEG) machine that records electrical brain activity. The respondent is shown an object (for example, a dog) on a computer screen, and the second participant, or “inquirer,” sees a list of possible objects and associated questions. With the click of a mouse, the inquirer sends a question and the respondent answers “yes” or “no” by focusing on one of two flashing LED lights attached to the monitor, which flash at different frequencies.
A “no” or “yes” answer both send a signal to the inquirer via the Internet and activate a magnetic coil positioned behind the inquirer’s head. But only a “yes” answer generates a response intense enough to stimulate the visual cortex and cause the inquirer to see a flash of light known as a “phosphene.” The phosphene — which might look like a blob, waves or a thin line — is created through a brief disruption in the visual field and tells the inquirer the answer is yes. Through answers to these simple yes or no questions, the inquirer identifies the correct item.
