Unsticking stuck brains

Neuroscience researchers are coming to believe that some mental diseases such as anxiety, depression and drug addiction involve situations where the conscious mind gets stuck. When stuck, the conscious mind cannot exert control over unconscious or subconscious pathways that cause, or at least correlate with, maladaptive behaviors. A recent paper describes a test of the hypothesis that stimulation of the brain with implanted electrodes can help unstick consciousness to help regain some control. 

It appears that the stuck brain hypothesis may be correct. This research is only a test of the hypothesis, so it needs to be confirmed in large scale clinical trials before the clinical potential of this technique can be used to treat stuck brain mental diseases that might respond to brain stimulation. 

Steve Novella at Neurologica blog writes:

A newly published study presents a proof-of-concept for using deep brain stimulation controlled with artificial intelligence (AI) in a closed-loop system[1] to enhance cognitive control, suggesting it might be effective for a number of mental illnesses. .... The most fundamental necessary to understand what is going on here is that your brain is a machine. It’s a really complicated machine, but it’s a machine none-the-less, and we can alter the function of that machine by altering its physical state.

.... a consequence of brain function itself, which evolved to create a seamless stream of consciousness, [is] an illusion of self unaware [without awareness of] of all the subconscious[2] processes that make up brain function. This is why we tend to interpret people’s behavior in terms of personality and conscious choice, when in fact much of our behavior is a consequence of subconscious processes. We are also biased to believe that people can think or will-power their way out of mental illness.

The more we understand about how the brain functions, however, the more it becomes apparent that the brain is just a glitchy machine, and lots can go wrong. .... But there are some brain functions that are so basic they are almost universally useful, and impairment of them can cause of host of problems. One such basic brain function is called cognitive control, which is essentially the ability to determine what thoughts and actions will be the focus of your brain’s attention.

What, then, is cognitive control? Wakefullness requires that the brain experiences a constant loop of activity. There are, in fact, centers in the brain stem whose function is to constantly activate the cortex, to keep that cognitive train constantly moving. Without these stimulating centers you would be in a coma, even with a perfectly functioning cortex. In addition, we need to be able to shift gears, so that we are not stuck endlessly in one loop. That is cognitive control – a higher brain function that can consciously direct or thoughts, attention, and behavior. This conscious function, however, is dependent on deep brain structures and subconscious functions. If the deeper pathways are not functioning optimally, we may be consciously stuck. This is what happens in many mental illness states – those with anxiety may be unable to stop thinking about what makes them anxious, or those with major depression may stay focused on negative thoughts. But what if we can give cognitive control a kick in the pants? That is the focus of the current study.  

Regardless of how this specific intervention works out, it does seem likely that we are at the beginning of a new technology, using AI in a closed loop system to monitor brain function and alter it with targeted stimulation. There is no theoretical limit to this technology, which will improve as our understanding of brain function improves and as the underlying technology improves. This is another aspect of the brain-machine interface, and we are on the steep part of this technological curve.

The researchers implanted electrodes in epilepsy patients who needed brain surgery. The electrodes in some patients randomly stimulated their brains (an open loop system[1]). In the other group of patients, AI was used to sense signals from the brain that indicated when when the patient's brain was stuck (a closed loop system). Once the AI sensed that the brain was stuck, it deployed electrical pulses to stimulate specific areas of the brain where the electrodes were implanted. After the AI sensed when the brain was stuck it tailored brain stimulation to see if it was possible to kick cognitive control back into normal functioning. It worked with the open loop system, but worked much better with the closed loop system.

If this turns out to be real, we could be witnessing the beginning of major advances in dealing with brain dysfunction. As noted here before, progress in brain-machine interface technology (BMI) is slow and incremental. This could wind up being much more than another routine increment. IMO, improved BMI could one day lead to humans capable of exercising something close to the full potential of the human brain. But that's decades in the future.

Question: Is this way cool or what?

Footnotes:

1. Closed loop brain stimulation automatically adjusts electrode stimulation to the brain in real time. There is crosstalk between the brain and the computer software and the software adjusts stimulation based on how the brain responds to initial stimulation. By contrast, and open loop system cannot self-correct because the brain is not talking back, just receiving electrode stimulation.

closed loop system ↔ crosstalk ↔ brain

open loop system → talk → brain

2. Novella uses the term subconscious. One model of the mind posits that there are three levels of mental awareness, conscious, subconscious, and unconscious. Consciousness is the thoughts and actions we are aware of. Subconsciousness constitutes the mental reactions and behaviors we become aware of after thinking about them. Unconscious is mental operations were are not aware of and do not become aware of, which is almost all of what we think and do.

I usually refer only to consciousness and unconsciousness, where mental operations and behaviors are unconscious unless they come to a state of mental awareness. I'm not sure how subconsciousness fits in. One explanation asserts that if a person has fallen asleep or been knocked out, they are unconscious, not subconscious, but if a person is alert but doesn't realize they are thinking or doing something, but we can becomes aware of it, the thought or action is subconscious, not unconscious. To me, the dividing line is consciousness vs unconsciousness. If we are unaware of some process or act we engage in, then it is unconscious unless and until we think about it, at which point it becomes conscious. 

There seems to be a general consensus that the unconscious mind is about 1 million times more powerful or data processing capable compared to the conscious mind. In other words, we overwhelmingly think unconsciously. Not sure how it plays out for overt behaviors. Maybe there's a higher degree of conscious control, but most of what we do is still probably unconscious.