Eight research teams working with DARPA to discover best ways to activate neuroplasticity and accelerate learning

DARPA Funds Brain-Stimulation Research to Speed Learning (DoD news): “The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is working with seven U.S. universities and elements of the Air Force and Army on research that seeks to stimulate the brain in a non-invasive way to speed up learning. DARPA announced the Targeted Neuroplasticity Training, or TNT, program last March, and work now has begun on the effort to discover the safest and most effective ways to activate a natural process called “synaptic plasticity.” Plasticity is the brain’s ability to strengthen or weaken its neural connections to adapt to changes in the environment. For TNT Program Manager Dr. Doug Weber, such plasticity is about learning.” An Arizona State University team is targeting trigeminal nerve stimulation to promote synaptic plasticity in the brain’s sensorimotor and visual systems. A Wright State University-Ohio team will identify epigenetic markers of neuroplasticity and indicators of a person’s response to vagal nerve stimulation, or VNS. A Johns Hopkins University-Maryland team focuses on brain regions involved in speech and hearing to understand plasticity’s effects on language learning. A University of Florida team is identifying which brain neural pathways VNS activates. Another University of Florida team will combine fluorescent imaging and optogenetics to test neural circuity that connects centers in the deep brain to decision-making regions in the prefrontal cortex, and optimize VN...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning Technology Brain-Plasticity cognitive skills training cognitive-skills Cognitive-Training DARPA neuromodulation neuroplasticity neurostimulation synaptic-plasticity Targeted Neur Source Type: blogs