OLDaily

Paralysed man moves in mind-reading exoskeleton
James Gallagher, BBC News, 2019/10/04

More in the realm of mind-machine interface as a man learns to use his thoughts to walk in an exoskeleton. "Prof Benabid, who developed deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease, told the BBC: "We have solved the problem and shown the principle is correct. This is proof we can extend the mobility of patients in an exoskeleton."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Badges Need Rigor! (Or do they really?)
David Leaser, IBM Training and Skills Blog, 2019/10/04

According to David Leaser, "the value of Open Badges may be lost if we prescribe a fixed set of expectations and present assumptions to constrain their enormous potential." How so? A lot of people ask about rigor, he writes, but they are confusing open badges with certifications or skills. But open badges should register passions or interests, not just formal qualifications. "By creating 'playlists' that incorporate passions like music and fashion with soft skills and business focused education, LRNG connects a person's passions with a pathway to a great life."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

The mechanisms behind learning and long-term memory in the brain
2019/10/04

Just a quick thought experiment before the main part of this post. A man walks on an island and leaves a footprint. Does the island therefore 'remember' the man? We would probably say not. But what if the footprint influences how a river drains, thereby changing the shape of the island? Does it now remember? What would it take to say the island 'remembered' the man?

OK. This paper (12 page PDF) is a very dense read, and if you're like me, you won't follow most of it (at least, not without a lot of background reading). But the key point stands out in the discussion: "postnatal brains continue forming synapses and neural circuits and undergo activity-dependent refinements. Egr1 has been shown to control newborn neuron selection and maturation during the critical period of a few weeks after birth." As we read in the helpful summary, "Egr1 is a transcription factor, which is a protein that helps transcribe DNA into RNA. Egr1 plays a vital role in long-term memory formation." As one commenter on LinkedIn says, "This effectively redefines memory to include antigens."

Or does it? Is every trace a memory? If we get a scar from an injury, is that a memory? If we catch a disease that wipes out our immune system, have we lost our memory? What does it mean to say a person 'remembered' an experience?

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]