{"id":12194,"date":"2017-04-30T10:32:34","date_gmt":"2017-04-30T10:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revoscience.com\/en\/?p=12194"},"modified":"2017-04-30T10:32:34","modified_gmt":"2017-04-30T10:32:34","slug":"brain-boot-camp-new-technology-aims-accelerate-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/brain-boot-camp-new-technology-aims-accelerate-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Brain boot camp: New technology aims to accelerate learning"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UW-Madison biomedical engineer Justin Williams. STEPHANIE PRECOURT\/UW-MADISON ENGINEERING<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The adage \u201cput your thinking caps on\u201d might evoke visions of an elementary classroom, where a teacher has just admonished cherubic little learners about to embark on a particularly difficult academic adventure.<\/span><\/p>\n

In today\u2019s high-stakes world, where we all need to think, learn or act quickly, the adage still rings true: Mastering a new task, skill or information often takes the right environment, mindset, sharp focus and lots of hard work, repetition and time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, in some time-sensitive or high-pressure situations, a big boost in learning ability and speed from that proverbial thinking cap would not only be welcome, but critical.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison, biomedical engineer Justin Williams is leading an effort to do just that.<\/span><\/p>\n

With up to $9.85 million in funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced today, Williams and neuroscience experts from around the country will develop a low-cost, easy-to-use system \u2014 think \u201clearning goggles\u201d \u2014 that aims to accelerate learning by stimulating nerves in the head and neck to boost neural activity in the brain.<\/span><\/p>\n

The system will be particularly useful for military personnel, whose safety and our national security depends on their ability to quickly master new skills or digest vast quantities of important information.<\/span><\/p>\n

The concept is rooted in a promising new area of research, called targeted neuroplasticity training, in which activating peripheral nerves \u2014 those outside of the brain and spinal cord \u2014 can promote and strengthen connections of neurons in the brain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Acupuncturists have known for centuries that the face and head are excellent places to stimulate peripheral nerves. For example, the auricular vagus nerve is located just below the skin and runs past the tragus \u2014 the little flap on your outer ear \u2014 and down through the neck.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stimulating nerves such as the vagus can boost brain chemicals such as acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. During learning, those chemicals, known as neuromodulators, regulate changes in the connections between neurons in the brain \u2014 and brain function improves.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent experiments, other researchers in the field demonstrated that stimulating the vagus nerve while an animal was learning a basic task dramatically increased the speed at which the animal learned the task.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed to work, whether it was a motor task, memory, auditory task or something else,\u201d says Williams, a UW\u2013Madison Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of biomedical engineering and neurological surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n

Williams is among the nation\u2019s leaders in neural interface technology research and optimization. In 2009, for example, Time magazine included him on its list of the year\u2019s 50 best inventions for developing a \u201cthinking cap\u201d: a brain-computer interface that allows paralyzed or \u201clocked-in\u201d people to type and send a tweet using only their thoughts.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the DARPA funding, he and his collaborators initially will leverage their combined expertise to develop ways to discover, measure, monitor and optimize the brain\u2019s response during targeted neuroplasticity training.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, they hope to use that knowledge to eventually develop a noninvasive, user-friendly technology that simultaneously delivers a stimulus, monitors neural response and dramatically accelerates learning.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCan we optimize the production of neurotransmitters at the right time and in the right place in the brain during a task to enhance learning?\u201d asks Williams.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond military applications, the technology also might be useful, in controlled environments, for people who have learning disorders or who are afflicted with diseases such as Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 collaborators at UW\u2013Madison include: Samuel Poore, professor of surgery; Zhenqiang (Jack) Ma, professor of electrical and computer engineering; and Aaron Suminski, senior scientist in neurological surgery and biomedical engineering. Collaborators from around the country include: David McCormick, professor of neuroscience and psychology at Yale University; Matthew McGinley, professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine; Robert Froemke, professor of otolaryngology and neuroscience and physiology at New York University; and Kendall Lee and Kip Ludwig, director and associate director, respectively, of the Mayo Clinic Neural Engineering Laboratory.<\/span><\/p>\n