I A
"Woman's Page"in the Guardian 9.7.02
Welcome to the
baby lab: with an
advt. at the end of article (If you have a a baby, or are
expecting one, and live within easy travelling distance
of London,and would like to volunteer for a Babylab
Study, call Jane on 020-7631 6258.Expenses are
reimbursed)! ! !
"Catriona is only 5 months old but already she has
her first accolade - an infant science degree awarded at
Birbeck College, London, England,for her outstanding
contribution to developmental psychology.  Catriona became one of hundreds of
infants who take part in experiments into how, and what,
babes think. ....Only one infant is in the lab at a time
and there are four adults talking to her....When they
(the infants) are least expecting it the net goes on.
Apparently a minority of babies refuse point-blank to
have anything to do with it but Catriona is in the
majority....Her head is now enmeshed in what is known in
the trade as a geodesic hairnet. Next it 's on to the experiment
which takes place in a darkened cubicle..Again it is
fun,fun,fun, with the hairnet now plugged into a computer
so that its foamcovered electrodes can record Catriona's
brainwaves and there is a video recording her reactions
to what she can see... a series of cartoons interspersed
with up-side down faces appear on screen.
It all adds up to the best
morning Catriona has ever had (sic)...and it really helps
the research, the reading of her brainwaves will be
analysed along with those of other young subjects TO SEE
HOW THE UP-SIDE DOWN FACE IS PROCESSED by the infant
mind.
The research is being used
as a control to a recent experiment - results indicate
babies look longer at faces they can make eye-contact
with,says Dr.Teresa Farroni. Infant-brain research (
it is only during the last 20 years or so that scientists
have been doing this research) and among them ..it has a
great and highly significant future.
"The broader field of
cognitive neuroscience really is THE exciting project of
the last 10 years in scientific research ! !" says
Dr Denise Mareschal. In reference....to correcting the
development of a condition (not behaving normally
precedes a list, autism etc.) ..a baby's brain is
uniquely plastic..malleable...adaptable. Neurologists are
watching these experiment closely...Once the plasticity
of infant brains is understood it is possible this
knowledge could PROVIDE IDEAS ....(this research is also
linked to market forces - toys
for "ambitious" parents)
Brain-Monitors
May Soon Scan
Travelers' Minds At Airports
By Frank J. Murray
The Washington Times
8-17-2
- Airport security
screeners may soon try to read the minds
of travelers to identify terrorists. Top
Stories
- Officials of the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration have told Northwest
Airlines security specialists that the
agency is developing brain-monitoring
devices in cooperation with a commercial
firm, which it did not identify.
- Space technology(!)
would be adapted to receive and analyze
brain-wave and heartbeat patterns, then
feed that data into computerized programs
"to detect passengers who
potentially might pose a threat,"
according to briefing documents obtained
by The Washington Times.
- NASA wants to use
"noninvasive neuro-electric
sensors," imbedded in gates, to
collect tiny electric signals that all
brains and hearts transmit. Computers
would apply statistical algorithms to
correlate physiologic patterns with
computerized data on travel routines,
criminal background and credit
information from "hundreds to
thousands of data sources," NASA
documents say.
- The notion has
raised privacy concerns. Mihir Kshirsagar
of the Electronic Privacy Information
Center says such technology would only
add to airport-security chaos. "A
lot of people's fear of flying would send
those meters off the chart. Are they
going to pull all those people
aside?"
- NASA aerospace
research manager Herb Schlickenmaier told
The Times the test proposal to Northwest
Airlines is one of four airline-security
projects the agency is developing. It's
too soon to know whether any of it is
working, he says.
- "There are baby
steps for
us to walk through before we can make any
pronouncements," says Mr.
Schlickenmaier, the Washington official
overseeing scientists who briefed
Northwest Airlines on the plan. He
likened the proposal to a super lie
detector that would also measure pulse
rate, body temperature, eye-flicker rate
and other biometric aspects sensed
remotely.
- Though adding mind
reading to screening remains theoretical,
Mr. Schlickenmaier says, he confirms that
NASA has a goal of measuring brain waves
and heartbeat rates of airline passengers
as they pass screening machines.
- This has raised
concerns that using noninvasive
procedures is merely a first step. Private
researchers say reliable EEG brain waves
are usually measurable only by machines
whose sensors touch the head, sometimes
in a "thinking cap" device. "To
say I can take that cap off and put
sensors in a doorjamb, and as the
passenger starts walking through [to
allow me to say] that they are a threat
or not, is at this point a future
application," Mr. Schlickenmaier
said in an interview.
- "Can
I build a sensor that can move off of the
head and still detect the EEG?"
asks Mr. Schlickenmaier, who led NASA's
development of airborne wind-shear
detectors 20 years ago. "If I can do
that, and I don't know that right now,
can I package it and [then] say we can do
this, or no we can't? We are going to
look at this question. Can this be done?
Is the physics possible?"
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