DARPA is using peripheral nerve stimulation to enhance learning processes — challenging the idea that the brain tells the peripheral nervous system what to do.
Targeted Neuroplasticity Training seeks to advance cognitive skills training through the precise activation of peripheral nerves that can strengthen neuronal connections. Unlike many of DARPA’s previous neurotech projects, it not only restore lost function, but seeks to advance capabilities beyond normal levels.
Program manager Doug Weber said: “Recent research has shown that stimulation of certain peripheral nerves, easily and painlessly achieved through the skin, can activate regions of the brain involved with learning. This natural process of synaptic plasticity is pivotal for learning, but much is unknown about the physiological mechanisms that link peripheral nerve stimulation to improved plasticity and learning. You can think of peripheral nerve stimulation as a way to reopen the so-called ‘Critical Period’ when the brain is more facile and adaptive. TNT technology will be designed to safely and precisely modulate peripheral nerves to control plasticity at optimal points in the learning process.”
Wearable Tech + Digital Health San Francisco – April 5, 2016 @ the Mission Bay Conference Center
NeuroTech San Francisco – April 6, 2016 @ the Mission Bay Conference Center
Wearable Tech + Digital Health NYC – June 7, 2016 @ the New York Academy of Sciences
NeuroTech NYC – June 8, 2016 @ the New York Academy of Sciences