Three human beings. A video game identical to the famous Tetris. And a brain-to-brain interface based on EEGs and the internet. These are the elements of an experiment that brings us closer to the dream of telepathic communication. For the first time, three minds have collaborated in solving problems without having to do more than send instructions to each other with neural electrical sparks.
The interface that has made this possible is called BrainNet (brain network), and has been created by a team of six scientists from Washington State University, located in Seattle. They include psychologists, neuroscientists, and engineers. One of them, Rajesh Gao, explains his work as follows: “Humans are social beings who communicate to cooperate and solve problems that they cannot solve alone. We wanted to know if a group of people could collaborate using only their brains. Thus was born the idea of BrainNet, a way for two people to help a third to complete a task.
This was the experiment
Two of the individuals acted as senders and one as receiver. The three were in different rooms and could not see each other, speak to each other, or hear anything. They were shown on computer monitors a game similar to Tetris, with blocks that fall and have to fit together to form lines. The senders could see the blocks and lines, but they had no control over the game; the receiver only saw the block, but could give the orders to rotate it and land in the correct position.
Each sender decided if the block should be rotated, and his brain transmitted such information through the internet to that of the receiver. This processed the information, and its neurons sent an order – to rotate or not to rotate the block – to the game, so that the line was completed.
And how were the orders shipped? On the screens of the transmitters, the word “yes” appeared on one side, and the word “no” on the other. Under the option “yes”, an LED lit up 17 times per second; under the “no”, another led emitted 15 flashes per second. As the researchers explain on the website of their university, ” once a transmitter decided whether or not to rotate the block, it concentrated on the LED corresponding to the order to be sent”, which reached the receiver.
Light is the key
The method is based on the fact that different light patterns trigger a unique type of brain activity, which the electrodes can capture and transform into a digital signal that is sent over the internet and is used to move a cursor on a screen. Thus, when one of the emitters concentrated on the flashes of LEDs that wanted to say “yes”, the electrodes in contact with his head detected which points of the brain were in action and sent the information that reached the receiver’s electrodes over the internet, that stimulated areas of the brain linked to visual perception. It is a way of tricking the neurons: the receiver did not see anything with his eyes, but his sensation was the same as if he were doing it. If the command was “yes,” he sensed a powerful flash; if it was “no,” he didn’t perceive anything. To send the computer game the order to move or not the block, it used the same method as the emitters to give orders.
Senders had the opportunity to correct their first order, and the system allowed the receiver time to react. On average, each of the five participating trio teams successfully completed the line of play in 13 of the 16 attempts made.
The researchers, who have published their work in Nature’s Scientific Reports , hope their experiment will drive the development of brain-to-brain interfaces that facilitate problem solving. It’s obvious: three brains go further than one. Nor do they forget the ethical implications of the matter – this technology can be a tool for manipulation – or the threat to privacy that involves getting inside someone’s head.
Anyway, this has only just begun. As the neuroengineer Rajesh PN Rao, one of the authors of the work, says, “this is like the passage of a baby. Our equipment is still expensive and very bulky, and we have focused on a simple video game. We are in the early babbling of the days of brain technology interfaces. “
Photo (Mark Stone / University of Washington): A researcher adjusts the wire that will send the brain instructions from the sender to the receiver.
