Augmenting Cognition

Augmenting Cognition is a rapidly emerging field in neuroscience, concerned with the translation of what is known about cognitive function and dysfunction to engineer approaches to enhance and rehabilitate the brain. Modern medicine has few options to treat those with cognitive deficiencies, and as we learn more about the biology of these conditions, we consider the design of a new class of therapies to restore and augment cognition. This book describes a number of the foundational areas of cognitive enhancement, with chapters devoted to the following subject areas: use of stem cells, savants, post-traumatic stress disorder, deep-brain stimulation, music and dance, virtual reality, role of sleep, longevity, drugs, and the brain-computer interface.

Idan Segev is the David Inez Myers Professor in Computational Neuroscience and former director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation (ICNC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research team utilizes computational tools to study how neurons, the elementary microchips of the brain, compute and dynamically adapt to our ever-changing environment. The ultimate goal is to unravel how local fine variations within the cortical network underlie specific computations (e.g., the orientation of a bar in the visual system) and may give rise to certain brain diseases or to a healthy individual brain. Henry Markram is the Project Director of the Blue Brain Project, Director of the Center for Neuroscience Technology and co-Director of EPFLs Brain Mind Institute (BMI). At the BMI, in the Laboratory for Neural Microcircuitry, Markram has continued his work to unravel the blueprint of the neocortical column, building state-of-the-art tools to carry out multi-neuron patch clamp recordings combined with laser and electrical stimulation as well as multi-sits electrical recording, chemical imaging and gene expression. The ultimate aim of his ambitious Blue Brain Project is to simulate the brains of mammals with a high level of biological accuracy and study the steps involved in the emergence or biological intelligence.