From Consumer Reports

There’s no evidence that so-called “neuroenhancers” work better than lifestyle measures such as getting enough sleep, taking walks, and engaging your mind, our consultants say. And the long-term risks of those drugs for “normal” patients is unknown. That’s why the American Academy of Neurology warns people about using neuroenhancers. link to continue reading

Source: Consumer Reports

A wireless headset that can interpret brain waves to control video games and other onscreen action, had been shown off at a hi-tech conference.

The Emotiv Epoc claims to be the first neural headset aimed at consumers.

The system, which is already on sale, uses a century old medical technique to read electrical signals in the brain.
Although it can be used for gaming, the firm behind the technology believes that it has uses for interacting with computers and mobile phones, as well as controlling smart homes and even medical devices.

“Up until now the way we communicate with machines has been very limited,” said Tan Le of Emotiv at the TED Global (Technology Entertainment and Design) conference in Oxford. link to read more

Source: BBC Fora TV

Next time your brain plays tricks on you, you have an excuse: according to new research by UCL scientists published today in the journal Nature, the brain is intrinsically unreliable.

This may not seem surprising to most of us, but it has puzzled neuroscientists for decades. Given that the brain is the most powerful computing device known, how can it perform so well even though the behaviour of its circuits is variable?

A long-standing hypothesis is that the brain’s circuitry actually is reliable – and the apparently high variability is because your brain is engaged in many tasks simultaneously, which affect each other. [continue reading…]