junior1 at ibm.net (Bernie Arruza) writes:
>There aren't enough engineers working in the field of neurosciences,
>and as a result there is (a lot of?) research (scientific if
>you'd like) being done, but the benefits of what is being learned
>at the medical research labs are not being put to use to benefit
>society at large "solving problems of a practical nature".
Well, from what I know, most neuroscience research is still "basic"
and it will be a while before practical applications will come out
of it. You may be right, though, that there could be more
applications of current knowledge; I don't know.
>The brain is the ultimate computing device. The possibility of
>applying what neuroscientist learn about the brain to real
>world appliances and devices (that may have nothing to do with
>the brain itself) does not seem so bizarre to me. I guess we
>just don't see the world with the same eyes :-(
Oh, we certainly do. I think that these efforts are indeed going
on -- there is a huge amount of literature being produced by
people working on artificial neural networks. One breakthrough
that will have immense practical applications will be the
discovery of the "learning algorithms" used by real neural networks.
>As a computer engineer, I know that a better way of computing
>(very different than today's symbolic computing) exits in my own
>brain. I just worry that the computer industry does not "see"
>(again there may be two or three companies that see but they
>are the exception) the benefit of applying what is being
>learned at the medical research labs.
>I use the computer industry, because it's what I know. Just
>think how the level of awareness in society, about the study
>of the brain, would be raise several notches if engineers came
>up with smart (vehicles, computers, phones,..) based on
>neuroscientific research, instead of us all just waiting to
>hear about the next medical breakthrough in brain research.
I think we just don't know enough yet... but someday we will.
Thanks for a stimulating discussion.
Kevin
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Kevin Spencer
Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory and Beckman Institute
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
kspencer at p300.cpl.uiuc.edu
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