The NeuroGeneration and Humankind ’s Quest to Enhance the Brain

Some people may be uneasy with the idea of “brain enhancement,” but the quest to boost our brainpower is nothing new; it is an essential part of human nature. Ever since Homo sapiens emerged nearly 200,000 years ago, we have been searching for ways to upgrade the hardware and wetware in our heads, and we’ve been creating and using tools to help us do it—physical and cognitive tools that help us solve problems and complete tasks more efficiently, tools that extend our natural abilities and allow us to do things that weren’t possible before. Language, numbers, science, education—these are all tools we’ve developed to improve our mental capacities. Our most powerful tool for navigating the ever-changing world, however, is the brain itself. It took billions of years for modern humans to arrive on earth, and although we continue to evolve genetically, this process occurs at a painstakingly slow pace. Our brain is nature’s way of allowing us to adapt more quickly than we evolve. It’s the cognitive machinery that lets us create and cope with the modern world. This most vital asset is also the seat of the self and the center of our personal universe. Everything we see, hear, and smell is a product of our brain, which filters the data gathered by our senses and converts it into the model of reality we experience. And yet we still know surprisingly little about the organ that is responsible for our human condition. Courtesy of recent advances in imaging tools, however...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Author Speaks Series Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning Health & Wellness Technology book brain brain enhance­ment brainpower enhance the brain grey-matter humankind mental capacities NeuroGeneration Neurons Source Type: blogs