In the video “Rewiring the Brain: The Promises and Perils of Neuroplasticity,” Brian Greene, a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, interviews experts in the field of neuroplasticity to discuss how human brain enhancement could benefit humanity and its potential. Explains whether it can cause harm.One
The panel included neuroscientists Takao Hensch and John Krakauer, and entrepreneur Brett Wingeier, co-founder and CEO of Magnus Medical. They explore the potential of a variety of tools, including pharmaceuticals, transcranial stimulation, and even video games, to harness the brain's ability to rewire itself.
This ability could potentially treat depression, reverse brain damage, and improve physical and cognitive abilities. However, there are important ethical considerations and potential risks in using such techniques to achieve superhuman enhancements.
Like children, adults can benefit from this important window of brain development
Hensch, co-professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School at Boston Children's Hospital and professor of molecular and cell biology at the Harvard Brain Science Center, has studied critical periods of brain development extensively, focusing in particular on how these periods can manifest themselves. Engineered to promote neuroplasticity.
His research explores how early life experiences influence brain function and highlights the role of specific inhibitory circuits in the brain in determining the timing of these critical years.2 These circuits can act as a kind of “brake” on the brain’s rewiring process, making them essential targets for interventions aimed at reversing neurological disorders or improving brain function.
Hensch's research has revealed that critical periods in the brain previously thought to be fixed are actually plastic and reversible. These insights have important implications for therapeutic strategies, such as the treatment of epilepsy and autism spectrum disorders.
Using a combination of molecular, cellular and systems neuroscience, his lab aims to explore these mechanisms and establish ways to manipulate the balance between excitatory and inhibitory signals to reopen these critical windows later in life.
This could potentially allow for the restoration of functions once only possible in childhood or the enhancement of cognitive abilities in adults. Hensch says:three
“We have known about the importance of critical periods, or critical periods, and the malleability of the brain as it changes over the course of development for centuries, from Aristotle to Montessori to the present. This comes from careful observation of infants and children and their learning abilities. New technologies emerge at an astonishing rate…
There are probably countless critical periods. Brain functions are translated into specific circuits that change, whether we are talking about vision, hearing or speech. Each circuit may have slightly staggered plasticity windows.
And indeed there is a hierarchy in which the primary sensory area, the first filter to the external world, is formed first and perhaps most rigorously and feeds into the multisensory areas, which integrate different kinds of inputs and information. Ultimately, we will build complex cognitive machines like the adult brain.”
Can we reopen critical windows to improve brain function?
Scientists are now investigating ways to reopen critical windows in the brain to promote stroke recovery, treat depression and learn new skills. John Krakauer, Ph.D., director of the Center for the Study of Motor Learning and Brain Repair at Johns Hopkins, explained that even traumatic brain injury can act as a kind of reset button to reopen brain plasticity.4
“In animal models and in humans, you get most recovery from any kind of brain injury early on. We've done some very slightly strange experiments in mice where we've basically given them a stroke and then delayed training, but they actually don't recover at all. Return to normal behavior.
Additionally, if you start training immediately after a stroke (i.e., if you wait just one day rather than a week), the effects of your training will be much greater, so much so that you can actually tell the difference between before and after your stroke.
Now what's really strange is that if you did the original experiment and waited a week and did the second stroke, which means you actually made the mouse worse, but now you didn't wait, you actually recovered completely from the first stroke. In other words, this is a very profound demonstration that critical periods can be manipulated by damaging the brain.
From the perspective of why that should happen, it seems kind of logical and parsimonious to imagine that the brain has a repair mechanism. It's like cutting skin, breaking bones, and damaging nerve tissue. “There will be some recovery processes in place that will have some overlap with the processes that are happening during development.”
Wingeier's company, Magnus Medical, is also attempting to rewire the brain using a form of transcranial magnetic stimulation called intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS). This method applies magnetic pulses to the brain to influence neural activity, targeting specific brain regions involved in mood regulation, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
The goal is to modulate the neural circuits that contribute to depression, especially in individuals who do not respond to other treatments. A study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry found that Magnus' Stanford Neuromodulation Therapy, previously called Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT), was useful for depression.5
In a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, 79% of treated patients achieved relief from depression, compared with 13% in the placebo group.6 Wingeier explains that similar technology could be used for other health conditions and even to improve human performance.7
“I have spent about 20 years building technologies to stimulate, strengthen and treat the brain, primarily on the medical side. I've worked in epilepsy, I've worked in Parkinson's disease, I've worked in cluster headaches, and now I'm working on new treatments for depression at Magnus Medical, and I've also worked in plasticity and human performance at a company called Halo Neuroscience.
The mechanisms behind plasticity are complex… but there is an electrical component to brain activity, and there is an electrical component to producing plasticity… We produce nerve impulses (electrical nerve impulses), whether timed pulses or timed waveforms. I believe that plasticity is strengthened through this. “By interacting with these fundamental brain activities, it is possible to modulate plasticity.”
Rewiring the Brain Gets Adults Closer to Perfect Pitch
Absolute pitch, also known as perfect pitch, is typically acquired in childhood, and there is evidence to suggest that the development of this ability is closely linked to early musical training. Although it is generally thought that the ability to learn absolute pitch is lost after this critical period, Hensch's research shows that using histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDAC inhibitors) can reopen this critical period of absolute pitch learning.8
The study found that adult men who took the HDAC inhibitor valproate (VPA) were significantly better at identifying tones than men who took a placebo. This means that one day, drugs could become commonplace for people trying to learn something new, like learning another language or playing an instrument.
“Certainly this possibility exists,” Hensch said, “and I’m sure many college campuses are already dealing with this situation.” He continues:9
“Most recently, the use of psychotropic drugs as a way to reopen critical periods falls into this category of thinking. There was actually a very good study by Hopkins that published evidence of a period of social crisis in rodents, and that this window can be reopened by a drug called MDMA, or ecstasy.
This is not an advocacy for rampant drug use, but rather a proof of principle that, through a very well-measured, hypothesis-driven approach, these enhancements can leverage neuromodulatory systems that weaken with age. But that alone won't change the plastic. This requires training.”
Meanwhile, Krakauer and his team at Johns Hopkins are exploring enhancing neuroplasticity through immersive environments, such as video games. For example, by learning how to control the movements of a dolphin, stroke patients can experience better recovery.
The idea behind the game is to create a fun and immersive environment that motivates patients to perform repetitive movements that are important for recovery but can often be boring. By simulating the control of a dolphin, the game engages patients in a way that traditional physical therapy cannot.
This type of gamified therapy could potentially make the rehabilitation process more engaging and effective, helping patients regain motor function faster. In fact, studies have shown that simulators can be twice as effective as traditional rehabilitation for stroke patients.10
“If you see them trying to open a cupboard or lift a cup, they'll try to do it like they used to, and when they can't, they'll get depressed,” Krakauer told Sky News.
“We're going to put you in an environment unlike anything you've ever done, so you can explore freely and feel good. You want an alternative reality where you don't think about your limitations. “11 These games are being studied to improve the well-being of adults over 65 years of age.12
Warning flags raised in the quest to create a more perfect human being
The potential to reopen critical learning windows and improve recovery from brain injury or cognitive abilities in humans is exciting, but it also raises several red flags. Brain development and learning pathways are very complex. Artificially manipulating these pathways can lead to unintended consequences, including abnormal brain development or function and increased risk of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
The ability to enhance cognitive abilities through neuroplasticity raises ethical questions about fairness, accessibility, and potential for misuse. Frequent reliance on technological interventions to improve brain function can lead individuals to become overly dependent on external assistive devices, potentially reducing the brain's natural ability to cope with challenges and adapt through intrinsic mechanisms.
Needless to say, changing an individual's cognitive or sensory abilities can have profound psychological effects, including changes in an individual's identity or self-perception. “I am reminded of a quote from the French poet Charles Baudelaire who said that genius is nothing but childhood that can be restored at will,” says Hensch.13
“A lot of artists have talked about this too, trying to refine that childlike state, but I think the core of that quote is ‘will’ and the ability to do it in a regulated way. The danger is… We've all gone through important times that have shaped who we are.
“Our identity is formed in childhood, and if we could actually turn everything around – our experiences, our cultural background, the language we speak, the skills we have – wouldn’t we lose our sense of self?”
Krakauer is also concerned about the race to expand these technologies beyond medical use and into the consumer space long before the full consequences are understood.14
“I’m extremely worried about a certain West Coast techno-utopianism that America is experiencing, where basically the technological talk is wagging the biological dog. And the real interest is in trying to make money and sell it by making people think it's going to be bionic or like the Matrix. I think we have to be very careful with our money. We spend a lot more time doing experiments and science.
Yes, if you have a medical condition that doesn't respond well to medication, such as depression or spinal cord injury, spinal cord stimulation can work wonders for walking. Yes, I totally agree with that.
But I am very concerned about the hasty leap into consumerism in general and the malice that claims to be doing this for the sake of medicine. But really, what you're desperately trying to do is get the consumer version right. “This is a trend that I am very concerned about.”
