5 ms·

Things like these makes me realize how little we know about the functioning of brain. Manipulating brain digitally would be perhaps one of the biggest technolog

Things like these makes me realize how little we know about the functioning of brain. Manipulating brain digitally would be perhaps one of the biggest technological revolution after industrial revolution.

numpad0 6y ago
That’s basically singularity
monkeydreams 6y ago
I saw a paper describing a clinical trial of a device which electrically stimulates the median nerve to reduce the severity of tourette's symptoms. This would be game changing to the Tourette's community. It is so much more than just a speech or tic disorder, and to give the worst affected sufferers their lives back (by reducing the impact of disinhibition, etc) is a fucking miracle.
the_only_law 6y ago
Sometimes I wish I was smart enough to have gotten involved with things like neuroscience. I watched part of a lecture on certain brain functions a good while back, regarding the mechanics of various mental illnesses, and it was incredibly fascinating. Such a powerful organ that we simply can't understand well enough.
- crispyporkbites 6y ago
  You probably are smart enough. It’s never to late to learn and contribute.
  - etrautmann 6y ago
    This is true. I pivoted from EE to Neuroscience after several years in industry.
    - the_only_law 6y ago
      How did you manage that? Graduate degree in the field? I dont have a bachelors degree so thats probably the biggest hurdle for me (and I've run the number several times I cant afford to go back). Even in support roles I imagine the culture of the companies in the field place a lot of weight on academic credentials.
      - etrautmann 6y ago
        The easiest path for you would be to get a job as a tech in a neuroscience lab. Virtually every lab needs motivated help, and while those jobs may not pay super well, you can learn a LOT and get powerful rec. letters from well known scientists. Those should matter in the application process, especially as we've seen a trend of deemphasizing grades and GRE's (many schools don't even take GREs anymore). I was very lucky, but also had already received a BE and an MS, then worked for two years in industry before applying to PhD programs.
    - sand500 6y ago
      did you pay for your Neuroscience degree out of pocket>
      - etrautmann 6y ago
        I applied to PhD programs, all of which should have a stipend and cover tuition. I was very lucky in where I ended up, and while my pay dropped a lot from an industry engineering job, I was still able to live comfortably by my standards for the duration of my degree. I'm now a postdoc, which still pays poorly relative to alternate options, but that's not why I do what I do. It's a privileged position to be in, and likely does constrain my thinking about starting a family, etc. but works well enough for me. Postdocs should be paid more across the board, however.
    - ronyfadel 6y ago
      How do you feel your daily neuroscience work is more interesting to you than your previous EE work? The brain fascinates me and sometimes I think of a similar change.
  - jb775 6y ago
    I agree. Even a minor contribution is more meaningful than you'd think.
- TaupeRanger 6y ago
  You are definitely smart enough. The problem is that most neuroscience is extremely incremental and often boring/useless. People like the idea of "working with the brain", but since we have no idea what we're doing, they just end up doing the 237th paper on the regions whose activity is "modulated" by the hippocampus, etc., etc.
  - etrautmann 6y ago
    There's a lot wrong with the structure of science, and this does lead to some incrementalism, but at the end of the day, we are making huge breakthroughs and our progress in understanding the brain is accelerating.
- tbugrara 6y ago
  Do you happen to have a link to that video? Sounds really interesting.
doitLP 6y ago
We know very little about how the body as a whole functions, especially from a systems perspective. Sure doctors can set bones and give you drugs that are in many cases the physiological equivalent of a sledgehammer, but try asking them what the mechanism of action is of those drugs, or you have Crohn’s or rheumatoid arthritis or insomnia or pinched nerve pain in your back. They have no effing idea.
- crispyporkbites 6y ago
  You’re talking to a general practitioner in that case, they won’t know the specific details, just in general. If you speak to researchers or specialists they do have a clue. But we still have a long long way to go
- neuronic 6y ago
  Confirmed. I worked in immunology and people were attempting to model gene expressions and how genes influence each other's expression to finally determine T-cell plasticity. New cell types or pathways to become cell types are observed more often than you would think and it feels like we are still at the very foundation of understanding <insert field of biology>. It's scary how much we don't know while publically acting as if we figured out 99.98% of biology. Explaining allergies and their origin is a good example here. It's just people throwing guesses around.
TaupeRanger 6y ago
We know little about many biological processes. The brain/CNS, cancer, and genetic disorders are among the most pressing medically.

numpad0 6y ago

That’s basically singularity

monkeydreams 6y ago

I saw a paper describing a clinical trial of a device which electrically stimulates the median nerve to reduce the severity of tourette's symptoms. This would be game changing to the Tourette's community. It is so much more than just a speech or tic disorder, and to give the worst affected sufferers their lives back (by reducing the impact of disinhibition, etc) is a fucking miracle.

the_only_law 6y ago

Sometimes I wish I was smart enough to have gotten involved with things like neuroscience. I watched part of a lecture on certain brain functions a good while back, regarding the mechanics of various mental illnesses, and it was incredibly fascinating. Such a powerful organ that we simply can't understand well enough.

crispyporkbites 6y ago
You probably are smart enough. It’s never to late to learn and contribute.
- etrautmann 6y ago
  This is true. I pivoted from EE to Neuroscience after several years in industry.
  - the_only_law 6y ago
    How did you manage that? Graduate degree in the field? I dont have a bachelors degree so thats probably the biggest hurdle for me (and I've run the number several times I cant afford to go back). Even in support roles I imagine the culture of the companies in the field place a lot of weight on academic credentials.
    - etrautmann 6y ago
      The easiest path for you would be to get a job as a tech in a neuroscience lab. Virtually every lab needs motivated help, and while those jobs may not pay super well, you can learn a LOT and get powerful rec. letters from well known scientists. Those should matter in the application process, especially as we've seen a trend of deemphasizing grades and GRE's (many schools don't even take GREs anymore). I was very lucky, but also had already received a BE and an MS, then worked for two years in industry before applying to PhD programs.
  - sand500 6y ago
    did you pay for your Neuroscience degree out of pocket>
    - etrautmann 6y ago
      I applied to PhD programs, all of which should have a stipend and cover tuition. I was very lucky in where I ended up, and while my pay dropped a lot from an industry engineering job, I was still able to live comfortably by my standards for the duration of my degree. I'm now a postdoc, which still pays poorly relative to alternate options, but that's not why I do what I do. It's a privileged position to be in, and likely does constrain my thinking about starting a family, etc. but works well enough for me. Postdocs should be paid more across the board, however.
  - ronyfadel 6y ago
    How do you feel your daily neuroscience work is more interesting to you than your previous EE work? The brain fascinates me and sometimes I think of a similar change.
- jb775 6y ago
  I agree. Even a minor contribution is more meaningful than you'd think.
TaupeRanger 6y ago
You are definitely smart enough. The problem is that most neuroscience is extremely incremental and often boring/useless. People like the idea of "working with the brain", but since we have no idea what we're doing, they just end up doing the 237th paper on the regions whose activity is "modulated" by the hippocampus, etc., etc.
- etrautmann 6y ago
  There's a lot wrong with the structure of science, and this does lead to some incrementalism, but at the end of the day, we are making huge breakthroughs and our progress in understanding the brain is accelerating.
tbugrara 6y ago
Do you happen to have a link to that video? Sounds really interesting.

doitLP 6y ago

We know very little about how the body as a whole functions, especially from a systems perspective. Sure doctors can set bones and give you drugs that are in many cases the physiological equivalent of a sledgehammer, but try asking them what the mechanism of action is of those drugs, or you have Crohn’s or rheumatoid arthritis or insomnia or pinched nerve pain in your back. They have no effing idea.

crispyporkbites 6y ago
You’re talking to a general practitioner in that case, they won’t know the specific details, just in general. If you speak to researchers or specialists they do have a clue. But we still have a long long way to go
neuronic 6y ago
Confirmed. I worked in immunology and people were attempting to model gene expressions and how genes influence each other's expression to finally determine T-cell plasticity. New cell types or pathways to become cell types are observed more often than you would think and it feels like we are still at the very foundation of understanding <insert field of biology>. It's scary how much we don't know while publically acting as if we figured out 99.98% of biology. Explaining allergies and their origin is a good example here. It's just people throwing guesses around.

TaupeRanger 6y ago

We know little about many biological processes. The brain/CNS, cancer, and genetic disorders are among the most pressing medically.