CNS Newsletter Volume 16, Issue 01 "The Augmented Brain" released

We recently published a new issue of the Charité NeuroScience (CNS) Newsletter, bringing you the latest on The Augmented Brain.

Humanity is no stranger to tools of all kinds; first fire and stone, later horse-drawn plows and carriages, ledgers and letters. Today, we are familiar with – and to some point identify with – modern tools like cars, phones, and journals. The explosive discussions of Artificial Intelligence technologies has dominated newsrooms and Twitter feeds alike, and our most recent CNS Brainstorm was no exception. The appearance of these new tools, which might look as different as an electronic calculator to an abacus, prompted us to ponder the ways in which our brains are and will continue to be shaped by the tools we use.

We use our phones to navigate, work, and keep up-to-date on our social media. So too do our phones and social media accounts shape our moods and identities (p. 7). There are dark sides too. In the best case, constant occupation and entanglement with technology can erase any trace of boredom, and potentially our creative selves along with it (p. 4). In some of the worse cases, careless use of technologies can result in psychological damage and systemic biases (p. 17, 20). To get a better idea of what brain – or more precisely, cognitive – augmentation really looks like, we speak to postdoctoral fellow Dr. Inês Hipólito (p. 14). With her words of caution in your mind, consider the futuristic – yet very real – advances our world is making in the realm of immortality, both in vivo and in silico (p. 10, 12).

In the spirit of embracing the tools of the future – with a healthy dose of skepticism – join us for this issue on the “Augmented Brain.”

Volume 16, Issue 01

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https://medical-neurosciences.charite.de/en/about_us/newsletter/

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