Nervous System Manipulation by electromagnetic fields from Monitors
Patent 6,506,148
I don't think this will work on LCD's. Maybe Plasma?
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Subliminal Learning Demonstrated In Human Brain
{image: New research uses sophisticated perceptual masking,
computational modeling, and neuroimaging to show that instrumental
learning can occur in the human brain without conscious processing of
contextual cues. (Credit: iStockphoto/Kiyoshi Takahase Segundo)}
ScienceDaily (Aug. 28, 2008) — Although the idea that instrumental
learning can occur subconsciously has been around for nearly a
century, it had not been unequivocally demonstrated. Now, a new study
published by Cell Press in the August 28 issue of the journal Neuron
used sophisticated perceptual masking, computational modeling, and
neuroimaging to show that instrumental learning can occur in the human
brain without conscious processing of contextual cues.
"Humans frequently invoke an argument that their intuition can result
in a better decision than conscious reasoning," says lead author Dr.
Mathias Pessiglione from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at
the University College London. "Such assertions may rely on
subconscious associative learning between subliminal signals present
in a given situation and choice outcomes." For instance, a seasoned
poker player may play more successfully because of a learned
association between monetary outcomes and subliminal behavioral
manifestations of their opponents.
To investigate this phenomenon, Dr. Pessiglione and colleagues created
visual cues from scrambled, novel, abstract symbols. Visual awareness
was assessed by displaying two of the masked cues and asking subjects
if they perceived any difference. "We reasoned that if subjects were
unable to correctly perceive any difference between the masked cues,
then they were also unable to build conscious representations of
cue-outcome associations," explains Dr. Pessiglione.
In the next set of experiments, subjects performed a subliminal
conditioning task that employed the same masking procedure, but the
cues were now paired with monetary outcomes. Using this methodology,
the researchers observed that pairing rewards and punishments guided
behavioral responses and even conditioned preferences for abstract
cues that subjects could not consciously see.
The researchers collected scans of the brain, using functional
magnetic resonance imaging, to investigate the specific brain
circuitry that is linked to subliminal instrumental conditioning. "The
ventral striatum responded to subliminal cues and to visible outcomes
in a manner that closely approximates our computational algorithm,
expressing reward expected values and prediction errors," says Dr.
Pessiglione. "We conclude that, even without conscious processing of
contextual cues, our brain can learn their reward value and use them
to provide a bias on decision making."
The researchers include Mathias Pessiglione, University College
London, London, UK, INSERM U610, Universite´ Pierre et Marie Curie,
Paris, France; Predrag Petrovic, University College London, London, UK
Jean Daunizeau, University College London, London, UK; Stefano
Palminteri, INSERM U610, Universite´ Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris,
France; Raymond J. Dolan, University College London, London, UKand
Chris D. Frith, University College London, London, UK.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Journal reference:
Mathias Pessiglione, Predrag Petrovic, Jean Daunizeau, Stefano
Palminteri, Raymond J. Dolan, and Chris D. Frith. Subliminal
Instrumental Conditioning Demonstrated in the Human Brain. Neuron,
2008; 59: 561-567 [link]
Adapted from materials provided by Cell Press, via EurekAlert!, a
service of AAAS.
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Cell Press (2008, August 28). Subliminal Learning Demonstrated In
Human Brain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080827163810.htm
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