Brain Hack: How Scientists Connected One

Brain To The Other Over Internet

Short Bytes: Research on a direct brain-to-brain connection was conducted by the University Of
Washington. This was done to enable pairs of participants play a question-and-answer game by
transmitting signals from one brain to the other over the Internet.
Havent all of us been fascinated by the idea of mind reading? Isnt it just wonderful when you
dont utter a word and yet can communicate perfectly? And when the Internet serves as the
connector, things get all the more fascinating.
Yes, we are talking about the recent research conducted by the University Of Washington where a
direct brain-to-brain connection was used. This was done to enable pairs of participants play a
question-and-answer game by transmitting signals from one human brain to the other over the
Internet.
Here, take a look at the diagram:

Heres how they made it big:

A cap laced with electrodes is placed on the head of Player 1.
The signals are read by an EEG (electroencephalogram) system.
This player faces a screen with a yes and a no side flashing light(with different rates of
pulses)
Miles away, Player 2 is aided with a special magnet at the back of his head, connected to the

EEG system over the Internet.

Player 2 then selects a question from a computer screen. The question is sent to Player 1s
screen. Player 1 looks intently at either the yes flashing light or no.
This EEG sends a signal to the magnet. If the answer looked at by Player 1 was yes, the
magnet then fires a pulse into the head of Player 2 that causes a phosphene or a flash of
light in the brain.
Wonderful, isnt it?

Caitlin Hudac, who is a post-doctoral student at the University Of Washington, wears a cap that
uses transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMG) to deliver brain signals from the other participant.

Participants were able to guess the correct object in 72 percent of the real games. Incorrect guesses
could be influenced by several factors. For instance, being uncertainty about whether a phosphene
had appeared.
Andrea Stocco, an assistant professor of psychology and a researcher at UWs Institute for Learning
& Brain Sciences says:
This is the most complex brain-to-brain experiment, I think, thats been done to date in
humans
The team is also working on transmitting brain states for example, sending signals from an alert
person to a sleepy one, or from a focused student to one who has attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder, or ADHD.