Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Limitless: How can we unlock the full potential of the brain?



The trailer for the movie "Limitless" depicts a young writer who starts taking a drug that his drug dealer tells him will unlock the other 80% of his brain. The character, portrayed by Bradley Cooper, becomes fantastically intelligent and quickly wealthy and famous. Could this happen? Not so sure. A number of smart drugs, memory enhancers and “nootropic” supplements have been shown to slightly improve memory, motivation, attention and concentration. Vitamins B and C, folate, Omega-3, Ginkgo biloba, other herbals and proprietary blends of these like “Focus Factor” seem to help cognitive function. Central nervous system stimulants like caffeine, Adderall and Ritalin are more powerful, and have proven effects on mental ability, but it is not completely clear how any of these increase mental through-put. Some increase the effects of certain neurochemicals, some dilate blood vessels, some stimulate nerve growth, and most cause neurons to work harder. Simply put, most neurotropic drugs give the brain more energy to power its searches for appropriate memories. Does this mean that the brain is being used more, or that more of the brain is being used?

Is it true that humans only use 20% of their brain? No one can be sure because there is actually no way of knowing quite what this statement is trying to say. It is clearly not true that large portions of our cortex remain unused. If you watch the video results of an fMRI scan you will see that as a person does various tasks and is exposed to various stimuli, virtually the entire cortical surface will light up at one time or another. It is true that at any one time, only a small fraction of the neurons in the brain are being used maximally. But this is a good thing because the unused neurons would insert inappropriate and superfluous content that would be distracting and would take away from the specificity of thought.

It is helpful that we only use a limited percentage of our brains at a time. The brain has dozens of dedicated processing areas, each fine-tuned to solve particular problems, most of which would be irrelevant to a specific task at hand. In fact, much of the brain is designed around quieting or inhibiting extraneous stimuli so that only the most pertinent things can make it into consciousness. Your mind is able to do its work without distractions because your brain is constantly suppressing activation in areas that may seem to hold pertinent memories, but have proven in the past to be misleading. Arguing that we would be better off using 100% of our brain is like arguing that it is better to use each of the tools in a Swiss Army knife, at the same time, for the same project, all at once.

Brain researchers like Karl Lashley, in the 1950s were confused by certain experimental results and were falsely led to assume that the entire cortex of the brain was undifferentiated and that individual areas do not specialized in specific tasks or activities. Outdated principles, such as “mass action” and “equipotentiality” conceptualized the cortex as a homogenous pool of neurons where function could not be localized. Lashley and other neuroscientists of his day saw the individual tools of the brain's Swiss Army knife as interchangeable and able to be summed together. These conceptualizations were wrong but probably contributed greatly to the 10% myth.  In fact, it would follow logically from his principles that if specific brain areas do not have particular jobs and if we only use a small minority of brain cells at any time, that we could increase mental ability simply by increasing the number of active areas. Too bad it isn't that easy.

Activating inappropriate memories will not increase intelligence, but how about increasing the span of activity of the most relevant memories? As we think, we hold and let go of certain memories. If we could increase the time that certain helpful memories are activated and available to working memory then this, I believe, would increase intelligence. The brain area to target in order to do this would be the prefrontal cortex. I think that the movie Limitless, does an amazing job of portraying the effects of prolonged prefrontal activation or “hyperfrontality.”

The best kind of neurotropic drug that I can imagine would increase activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex. This would make it so that one was able to drag even more of their visual and verbal imagery with them through time. The PFC is like a switchboard with contacts in all kinds of other brain areas. The harder the PFC works, the longer various representations and subroutines can be maintained. In some senses, this WOULD allow someone to use more of their brain. Using time and mental resources to recall deactivated memories is like trying to use your fingernails to pry out the implements of a Swiss Army knife. Increasing PFC activity though, would be akin to having the most recently used tools in the knife unsheathed and ready for implementation.

11 comments:

  1. Awesome post, I want to check out a couple of your other messages. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for this veruy informative post. It really opened my mind !!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. wolfgang.nordhoff@gmx.de. English is not my mother language so be mild with my writing here, please. :) I took a pharmaceutical pill 3 days in a row that helps a friend of mine for years without adverse effects. I did not know then that his brain is impaired by several blows sustained during real tough street fights as a bouncer at a hefty spot. My mbase is not realöly impaired: As a 12 year old my IQ at an IQ test was ranked at a worth of 139. Nonetheles i can be an idiot at times. Proof follows soon. What happened after I took the pill for 3 days as an adult? I functioned at a much higher level. For example I could dial a 10 digit phonenumber I had dialed only once and 2 months ealier. 30-40 (absolutely) forgotten details of a really complicated matter dating months before came back. Intuitively and automatically during my talking to a real smart fellow. . I could sense people in my surrounding getting intimitated. For example when I met entrepreneurs for strategical talk. Or a canny lawyer who knows my usual skills, he raised his eyebrows... On evening of day 3 I felt something was wrong. By accident I noticed that my resting pulse was 120-150 (!!!!!) and my training pulse, which is usually 120-130 skyrocketed close to 200 (!). It stayed at 190 for more than 10 minutes. It took me 5 days to get back to something approaching a normal level in my cardiovascular system. For another 2 weeks my thinking was still somewhat enhanced but my wellbeing suffered. So to speak I analysed too much with my brain for my own good... Needless to say I`m not eager for that kind of experience again. The medicine blocked neurological inhibitors in the brain. So brain Action and impulses went limitless on day 3. I should have written down some of my business ideas I had during 2 thinking sessions at my office. They were absolutely realistic and limitless. If anyone knows substantial News to substances for enhanced thinking without bad side effects feel free to let me know. I have some other knowledge myself - to gain ca. 10-25 % in ability within 1-2 years with perfectly legal supplements. But it`s coupled with work :) ... Best regards, Wolfgang

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @wolfgang By all means, please share your knowledge regarding to gain 10-25% in ability within 1-2 years. I'm a day trader and often feel that my brain isn't working as good as it could/should. In return I'm willing to share my knowledge of making an average ROI of 30% per month with no higher odds than 1 in 5,000 (same odds like dying in a car accident) of losing 100% of your capital (no, you wouldn't have to invest with me or anyone affiliated with me). Just offering to share my knowledge in return for yours. Take care. Jay

      Delete
  4. Species Survival by Ken Hollar

    Free download 04/06/2015- 04/10/2015 on KDP SELECT
    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PFX2UO6

    Science fiction novel exploring the last great frontier: the human mind.

    Hiding in plain sight while on the run they sustain a tide of kindness in an unkind world without making waves that would attract the men and “dogs” hunting them.

    Through extensive interviews the government has discovered that very young children have invisible friends that when parents ask to see them are always “in the other room.” These entities, peripheroids, have given children directions about world peace, an eventuality for which the military is not prepared. Desperate to save themselves they blame peripheroids for the alarming increase in autism: a condition, at its worst, where the child is “in another room” in his or her mind and can’t be reached by anyone, even their loving parents.

    As they grow almost all children forget these invisible friends. Only two humans are known to have talked to peripheroids after age two. Both have been watched every second of their lives. She knows this. He doesn’t.

    When she finds him he discovers that the recurrent dream that has haunted him is really a suppressed memory. Can she help him unlock that memory and the untapped powers of his mind and body fast enough to survive until they find the children they seek who are, literally, the key to long term species survival for mankind?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Excellent, timely, and relevant post. The Swiss Army Knife analogy, discussion of popular mind enhancers and succinct discussion of the history of the literature helped this lay person understand the author's observations. Also, reference to the pop-culture "Limitless" TV series was a clever addition.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Combining security with comfort, these compact and user-friendly devices also offer convenience for driving and handling of the car.duplicate key maker

    ReplyDelete
  7. I appreciate this article for the well-researched content and excellent wording. I got so interested in this material that I couldn’t stop reading. Your blog is really impressive. Brainer360 Limitless pill

    ReplyDelete
  8. superb way of explaining, and great blog to get wonderful information.
    andro400 gnc

    ReplyDelete
  9. Get the product at www.modpill.com US to US shipments, trackable packages, 2-5 days delivery www.modalert.us

    ReplyDelete
  10. limitless brain pill Really I enjoy your site with effective and useful information. It is included very nice post with a lot of our resources.thanks for share. i enjoy this post.

    ReplyDelete