Episode #79 – A Zap to the Head Might Do Us All Some Good – Talking Brain Stimulation with Dr. Brent Williams

Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman is no slouch when it comes to understanding the human mind - particularly the diagnoses and treatment of mental illness. In addition to being chair of psychiatry at Columbia University, Dr. Lieberman sits on the advisory board of many of the world’s largest drug companies.

Current brain-machine interface technologies like MUSE or Mellon detect your mental activity with a headband, and represent it in unique apps. Thync is aiming to actively stimulate your mental activity, creating a more excited or tranquil mental state at your discretion.

Dr. John MacCormick is the author of the book “Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future: The Ingenious Ideas That Drive Today's Computers,” and in this interview, he shares some of the fundamental algorithms that support modern artificial intelligence, and his optimistic views on the future of AI.

Brown's BrainGate project is hailed as one of the premier research projects in the entire field of brain-machine interface. Researchers here have given paralyzed patients the ability to move robotic arms and check emails with their thoughts alone, thanks to experimental neural implants in their motor cortex. Dr. Beata Jarosiewicz has been with BrainGate project for years, with a specific focus on interpreting neurological signals and turning them into actionable outputs.
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Brain-computer interfacing (BCI) is a rapidly growing field that offers huge potential for many applications, such as medical grade BCIs, to help people with sensory-motor disabilities. Currently, a number of researchers are developing more affordable BCI systems designed to address a wider range of neurotherapeutic applications.