Artificial intelligence “read” people's thoughts during sleep
Swiss scientists have found out what the human brain “thinks” about during sleep. To do this, they used artificial intelligence, reports Nature Communications.
Scientists monitored brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). Observations have shown that during sleep, the brain processes thousands of units of information received during wakefulness.
“The brain, which no longer receives external stimuli, can evaluate these memories in order to retain only the most useful,” – says the text of the scientific work.
So, during sleep, the hippocampus (the structure of the temporal lobe, which is responsible for short-term memory) sends information accumulated during the day to the cerebral cortex. Scientists have noted that the brain seems to establish a “dialogue” between two different departments. Replaying the events of the day helps reinforce memory and improve connections between neurons.
The study also showed that the brain responds better to memories associated with positive emotions. As part of the experiment, the scientists asked the volunteers to play two video games: face recognition (“Guess Who”) and the exit from the 3D maze. These games activate different areas of the brain and are easier to distinguish on MRI images.
The system was set up in such a way that the participant could win only one game. The brain associated winning with positive emotions.
Then the volunteers went to bed. At the same time, the state of their brain was recorded every two seconds. The results were analyzed using an artificial intelligence system. It turned out that the activity in the deep sleep phase was very similar to that which manifested itself during the game. The brain relived the game, and it was the one where the victory was won.
“As soon as you fall asleep, brain activity changes. Some time after falling asleep, our volunteers began to 'think' about both games, and then almost exclusively about the game they won, “the authors concluded.
A few days later, the volunteers were asked to recall the details of the games. The best results were shown by those who had the largest number of brain regions activated during sleep. Scientists have concluded that reward memory is better anchored.
Scientists have previously figured out why people are afraid of the dark. It affects the activity of the brain in a special way.
