[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6531\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ECracking the \u0027QR code\u0027 of our thoughts\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrom recognising faces in a crowd to wrapping oddly shaped Christmas gifts, many daily feats performed by our brains remain unmatched by any other species or technology, and continue to puzzle scientists.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, our ability to record signals from individual brain cells through methods such as EEG \u2013 which records the voltage generated at the surface of the brain in real-time \u2013 and fMRI \u2013 which uses powerful magnetic fields to nudge atoms in the blood system and track how long it takes them to return to normal \u2013 are helping researchers to recreate three-dimensional maps of brain activity that correspond to actual thoughts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Christian Olivers at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, compares the kind of activity reported by EEG and fMRI scans to a QR code. \u2018Different patterns of activity in the brain are code for different mental images,\u2019 he said. \u2018Our objective is to crack that code.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Olivers runs the TEMPLATE 2.0 project, funded by the EU\u2019s European Research Council (ERC), which is looking at a function of our brains that neuroscience has yet to explain \u2013 our ability to hold a particular image in our head related to the task at hand. For example, if we are looking for a particular face in a crowd, we hold some representation of the face that we are looking for before we see it, and will see it more quickly than we see other people.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Different patterns of activity in the brain are code for different mental images. Our objective is to crack that code.\u2019\u0026amp;nbsp;\u0026amp;nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProf. Christian Olivers, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of his project, he has been asking test subjects to stare at a blank screen where they expect an object to appear. Sure enough, regions of the brain associated with the visualisation of that object tend to come to life before the object itself appears on the screen.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Olivers has even managed to distinguish between the objects that test subjects are thinking of by looking at the brain activations through techniques such as EEG and fMRI.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe believes the ability to visualise what we are looking for is one of humanity\u2019s fortes. While a monkey takes weeks to learn to find blue socks, then weeks again to search for green ones, we can switch from one target to another in less than half a second.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETemplates\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Humans find things by creating an image in our mind of what we are looking for and filtering our surroundings through it,\u2019 he said. This mental template is largely to thank for the unusual flexibility and adaptability of our species, but it does have its limitations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy the end of the project, he hopes to have a better idea of how we carry these pictures in our heads, what distinguishes them from other types of memory, how many templates can be active at once and how training could alter them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Peter Janssen at the University of Leuven in Belgium says that our understanding of neurology is only just beginning. \u2018We understand very little about how the brain works,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/alert\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Subscribe to our newsletter\u0022 height=\u0022222\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/news-alert-final.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022Subscribe to our newsletter\u0022 width=\u0022983\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003ESubscribe to our newsletter\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor five years, Prof. Janssen has coordinated the BRAINSHAPE project with funding from the ERC. His research has investigated the ability of macaques to grasp and handle objects with the aid of both non-invasive techniques and small electrodes inserted in their brain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause the electrodes could both monitor and stimulate electrical signals, Prof. Janssen managed to record brain activity during the macaque\u2019s natural behaviour and interfere with it to better understand the networks supporting grasping movements in these monkeys.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENoting that abstract thoughts can be detected as electrical signals and electrical signals can be used to control nervous systems, Prof. Janssen foresees that, within our lifetime, brain-machine interfaces could communicate directly between functioning brain cells and muscles, or even electronic circuits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018At present, we cannot heal severed spinal cords or repair the motor cortex of patients after a stroke,\u2019 said Prof. Janssen. \u2018But as we crack the code of the human brain, we could potentially bypass impaired components in its motor system.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-l5pm4ck53onr8ud4-43jt79gjibtqk-qros5dgekzje\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-l5pM4CK53ONR8ud4-43jt79gJibtqK_qRos5dGEkZJE\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]