Mental Health

Neuroscientists Working on How Our Brains Will Comprehend Teleportation

By Kanika Gupta | Update Date: Mar 01, 2016 10:45 AM EST

Even though teleportation machines may be a thing of the sci-fi movies, it will be fun to see how our bodies and especially, brain, will react should this technology become a reality.

The neuroscientists at University of California are prodding this question to learn if the human brain is ready for teleportation, as reported by Science Alert.

According to Motherboard, the answer is a resounding yes. Apparently, when our brain hops from one place to another, it is not completely fatigued and is still able to retain some of navigational information, even when the live inputs are in darkness. Needless to say, the researchers didn't have the teleportation device but they had an exact simulation that could accurately relay the same experience of using such a device.

Every time we are in motion, a certain kind of rhythmic brain pattern appears. These patterns also come up when we are moving through the virtual space, aided by a computer. So by imitating a VR teleportation experience, the scientists could get a deeper understanding of how a real-life teleportation might impact us.

For the purpose of study, three patients with brain monitoring electrodes already planted, due to epilepsy, were selected. The brain patterns appeared during the simulated teleportation suggesting that our navigational awareness will function even while we are being teleported. This is a breakthrough discovery because the theory is in contrast to the most neurological models.

"The idea that vestibular/proprioceptive [sensory] input is fundamental to how we code space has dominated in the field of spatial navigation for several decades," Arne Ekstrom, the lead author of the study, told Motherboard's Michael Byrne. "Our results fundamentally challenge this viewpoint and thus require revision of models we have assumed this to be correct for quite some time."

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