Higher college of technology
English
Communications IV
ENGL-N264
CEL
Abdulla Yousef
ALHammadi
H00214238
Hedley Butterfield
5/6/2012
The
artificial brain
One of the most striking changes in
electrical engineering over the last five years is the scientist’s step to the creation
of an artificial brain (Dyro 2004). This idea is considered one of the most
amazing undertakings by scientists in the field of electrical engineering. Recent
breakthroughs have been announced at the University of Southern California. According
to an electrical engineer, Professor Alice Parker, study of the use of carbon
nanotubes strikes more light in the creation of an artificial brain. The advancement
has been achieved based on a fact that nanotechnology can act like a neuron in
one way or the other (Parker 2010).
A carbon nanotube has been used to make a
transistor circuit. These transistors behave like the synapse of a neuron. This
happens between the pre synaptic neuron and the post synaptic neuron. A
transistor is made in resemblance to a neuron. When an action potential is
applied to it, it makes a post synaptic potential that resembles the behavior
of the synapse in the brain as it spikes. However, this achievement has been advanced
on a small-scale brain and its core activity (Christoph 2010). This discovery
and advancement is amazing since it has not been done in the world before.
Scientifically speaking, just one neuron has about
ten thousand synapses. They all serve as inputs to the neurons. As a result the
entire brain is made up of myriad neurons. Parker and his team were able to replicate
the functioning of a small section of the brain by using a few cases of
synaptic neurons. It is very important since this development showed that biomimetic
circuits can be made from carbon nanotube transistors, something which has not
been used before (American Institute of Electrical Engineers 2011). According
to Parker, the critical part of a working artificial brain is demonstrated by
its ability to learn and be intelligent.
Although it is not acceptable to develop an
artificial brain, as the Christians argue, many notable uses can be derived
from this technology. One is that of the manipulation of robots, tasks, which
could be done by man. In manufacturing industry, the entertainment scene and
the engineering sector, robots today perform incredible tasks. With the
increasing crime in the world, especially cybercrime, robots installed with an artificial
brain could help to identify criminals. The artificial brain is becoming a
common phenomenon everyday and with more and more research, the world is
waiting for the next step!
Neuro Vigil
Another development in the field of
electrical engineering involves the discovery of a neuro vigil in a home-based
autism study. This resulted in a device called iBrain. This device has the
capacity to detect whatever has been happening in an individual’s brain. I
consider this achievement amazing since I believe that nothing can actually
match the working of my brain.
Neuro Vigil is destined to operate in
converting brain waves into visible electrical representations of brain
activity. Special computer programs are used to sense sleep data in biomarker
machines that are associated with autism. Thus, this will be used to treat
autistic cases as demonstrated by children in unfamiliar environments. In
collaboration with other researchers of behavior science, Neuro Vigil is one of
the amazing technologies that have massive electrical applications (Cameron
2009). It is used in various hospitals to test sleep discomforts among neurological
patients. Besides this, other advancements have been made in different
universities as Yale school of medicine. This project made use of magnetic
resonance imaging in identification of sleep patterns. It coincided with the previous
discoveries on Neuro Vigil.
The Neuro Vigil, also known as the ibrain, is
thought to be a very useful technology that will see the many problems that man
is facing, reduce. One notable use of this technology will be in the hospital,
where patients, with brain problems will be treated. The ability of the device,
which is mounted on the brain of an individual, to infer data though a USB,
makes it possible for researchers to further use the data for further studies.
The information obtained can be stored in a computer, where it can be used for
comparison purposes.
In conclusion, electrical engineering has
been of subtle importance in the world of technology. Over the past five years
alone, varied achievements have been made in these fields of scientific study. Among
these are the artificial brain and Neuro Vigil discoveries.
Bibliography:
American
Institute of Electrical Engineers. Electrical
engineering, Volume 76, Part 2, Carlifonia:
University of California, 2011, print
Cameron,
Ewen and Greenblatt, Milton. Recent
advances in neuro-physiological research,
Indiana: Indiana University, 2009, print
Christoph,
Ramacher. On the Construction of
Artificial Brains, New York: Springer, 2010,
print
Dyro,
Joseph. Clinical Engineering Handbook:
Academic Press series in biomedical engineering,
Chicago: Academic Press, 2004
Parker,
John. The Electrical engineer, Volume
5, Havard: Biggs & Co., 2010, print
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