Systems Neuroscience in Focus: from the Human Brain to the Global Brain?

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provided by Frontiers - Publisher Connector OPINION ARTICLE published: 06 February 2015 SYSTEMS NEUROSCIENCE doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2015.00007 Systems neuroscience in focus: from the human brain to the global brain?

Marios Kyriazis*

ELPIs Foundation for Indeﬁnite Lifespans, London, UK *Correspondence: [email protected]

Edited by: Manuel Fernando Casanova, University of Louisville, USA Reviewed by: Mikhail Lebedev, Duke University, USA Andrea Stocco, University of Washington, USA

Keywords: global brain, complex adaptive systems, human longevity, techno-cultural society, noeme, systems neuroscience

INTRODUCTION Heylighen and Bollen, 1996; Johnson et al., to increase our brain function (mostly Human intelligence (i.e., the ability to 1998; Helbing, 2011; Vidal, in press). through using, or merging with, technol- consistently solve problems successfully) This entity reciprocally feeds informa- ogy such as in the example of brain to has evolved through the need to adapt tion back to its components—the indi- brain communication mentioned above), to changing environments. This is not vidual human brains. As a result, novel in order to improve integration and only true of our past but also of our and hitherto unknown consequences may maintain stability of the wider system. present. Our brain faculties are becom- materialize such as, for instance, the emer- Several other authors (Maynard Smith ing more sophisticated by cooperating gence of rudimentary global “emotion” and Szathmáry, 1997; Woolley et al., 2010; and interacting with technology, specif- (Garcia and Tanase, 2013; Garcia et al., Last, 2014a) have expanded on this point, ically digital communication technology 2013; Kramera et al., 2014), and the which seems to underpin our continual (Asaro, 2008). appearance of decision-making faculties search for brain enrichment. When we consider the matter of brain (Rodriguez et al., 2007). These characteris- The tendency to enrich our brain function augmentation, we take it for tics may have direct impact upon our biol- is an innate characteristic of humans. granted that the issue refers to the human ogy (Kyriazis, 2014a). This has been long We have been trying to augment our brain as a distinct organ. However, as we discussed in futuristic and sociology lit- mental abilities, either intentionally or live in a complex technological society, it erature (Engelbart, 1988), but now it also unintentionally, for millennia through is now becoming clear that the issue is becomes more relevant to systems neuro- the use of botanicals and custom-made much more complicated. Individual brains science partly because of the very promis- medicaments, herbs and remedies, and, cannot simply be considered in isolation, ing research in brain-to-brain interfaces. more recently, synthetic nootropics and and their function is no longer local- The concept is grounded on scientiﬁc improved ways to assimilate information. ized or contained within the cranium, principles (Last, 2014a) and mathematical Many of these methods are not only use- as we now know that information may modeling (Heylighen et al., 2012). ful in healthy people but are invaluable be transmitted directly from one brain in age-related neurodegenerative disorders to another (Deadwyler et al., 2013; Pais- AUGMENTING BRAIN FUNCTION ON A such as dementia and Parkinson’s dis- Vieira et al., 2013). This issue has been GLOBAL SCALE ease (Kumar and Khanum, 2012). Other discussed in detail and attempts have It can be argued that the contin- neuroscience-based methods such as tran- been made to study the matter within a ual enhancement of brain function in scranial laser treatments and physical wider and more global context (Nicolelis humans, i.e., the tendency to an increasing implants (such as neural dust nanopar- and Laporta, 2011). Recent research in intellectual sophistication, broadly aligns ticles) are useful in enhancing cogni- the ﬁeld of brain to brain interfaces has well with the main direction of evolution and modulate other brain functions provided the basis for further research tion (Steward, 2014). This tendency to an (Gonzalez-Lima and Barrett, 2014). and formation of new hypotheses in this increasing intellectual sophistication also However, these approaches are limited respect (Grau et al., 2014; Rao et al., obeys Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety to the biological human brain as a distinct 2014). This concept of rudimentary “brain (Ashby, 1958) which essentially states that, agent. As shown by the increased research nets” may be expanded in a more global for any system to be stable, the number interest in brain to brain communication fashion, and within this framework, it is of states of its control mechanisms must (Trimper et al., 2014), I argue that the issue possible to envisage a much bigger and be greater than the number of states in of brain augmentation is now embrac- abstract “meta-entity” of inclusive and the system being controlled. This means ing a more global aspect. The reason is distributed capabilities, called the Global that, within an ever-increasing techno- the continual developments in technology Brain (Mayer-Kress and Barczys, 1995; logical environment, we must continue which are changing our society and culture

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(Long, 2010). Certain brain faculties that were originally evolved for solving practical physical problems have been co-opted and exapted for solving more abstract metaphors, making humans adopt a better position within a technological niche. Thelinebetweenhumanbrainfunc- tion and digital information technologies is progressively becoming indistinct and less well-defined. This blurring is possible through the development of new technologies which enable more efficient brain-computer interfaces (Pfurtscheller and Neuper, 2002), and recently, brain-to- brain interfaces (Grau et al., 2014). We are now in a position expand on this emergent worldview and examine what trends of systems neuroscience are likely in the near-term future. Technology has been the main drive which brought us to the position we are in today (Henry, 2014). This position is the merging of the physical FIGURE 1 | Computer-generated image of internet connections world-wide (Global Brain). human brain abilities with virtual domains The conceptual similarities with the human brain are remarkable. Both networks exhibit a and automated web services (Kurzweil, scale-free, fractal distribution, with some weakly-connected units, and some 2009). Modern humans cannot purely be strongly-connected ones which are arranged in hubs of increasing functional complexity. This defined by their biological brain function. helps protect the constituents of the network against stresses. Both networks are “small worlds” which means that information can reach any given unit within the network by passing Instead, we are now becoming an amal- through only a small number of other units. This assists in the global propagation of gam of biological and virtual/digital char- information within the network, and gives each and every unit the functional potential to be acteristics, a discrete unit, or autonomous directly connected to all others. Source: The Opte Project/Barrett Lyon. Used under the agent, forming part of a wider and more Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International License. global entity (Figure 1).

LARGE SCALE NETWORKS AND THE of an individual within the GB, a mean- DISCUSSION GLOBAL BRAIN ingful synergy between each individual This concept is a helpful way of inter- The Global Brain (Heylighen, 2007; human, their social interactions and arti- preting the developing cognitive relation- Iandoli et al., 2009; Bernstein et al., ficial agents, globally connected to other ship between humans and artificial agents 2012) is a self-organizing system which noemes through digital communications as we evolve and adapt to our chang- encompasses all those humans who are technology (and, perhaps soon, through ing technological environment. The con- connected with communication technolo- direct brain to brain interfaces). A com- cept of the noeme provides insights with gies, as well as the emergent properties parison can be made with neurons which, regards to future problems and opportuni- of these connections. Its intelligence and as individual discrete agents, form part of ties. For instance, the study of the function information-processing characteristics the human brain. In this comparison, the of the noeme may provide answers useful are distributed, in contrast to that of noemes act as the individual, information- to biomedicine, by coopting laws applica- individuals whose intelligence is local- sharing discrete agents which form the ble to any artificial intelligence medium ized. Its characteristics emerge from the GB (Gershenson, 2011). The modeling of and using these to enhance human health dynamic networks and global interac- noemes helps us define ourselves in a way (Kyriazis, 2014a). Just as certain physi- tions between its individual agents. These that strengthens our rational presence in cal or pharmacological therapies for brain individual agents are not merely the bio- the digital world. By trying to enhance augmentation are useful in neurodegen- logical humans but are something more our information-sharing capabilities we eration in individuals, so global ways of complex. In order to describe this relation- become better integrated within the GB brain enhancement are useful in a global ship further, I have introduced the notion and so become a valuable component of sense, improving the function and adap- of the noeme, an emergent agent, which it, encouraging mechanisms active in all tive capabilities of humanity as a whole. helps formalize the relationships involved complex adaptive systems to operate in One way to augment global brain func- (Kyriazis, 2014a). The noeme is a combi- a way that prolongs our retention within tion is to increase the information content nation of a distinct physical brain function this system (Gershenson and Fernández, of our environment by constructing smart andthatofan“outsourced”virtualone. 2012), i.e., prolongs our biological lifespan cities (Caragliu et al., 2009), expanding the It is the intellectual “networked presence” (Kyriazis, 2014b; Last, 2014b). notion of the Web of Things (Kamilaris

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et al., 2011), and by developing new con- (Heylighen, in press) particularly “omni- Gershenson, C., and Fernández, N. (2012). cepts in educational domains (Veletsianos, science” (through Google, Wikipedia, Complexity and information: measuring emer- 2010). This improves the information the semantic web, Massively Online gence, self-organization, and homeostasis at multiple scales. Complexity 18, 29–44. doi: exchange between us and our surround- Open Courses MOOCs—which dramat- 10.1002/cplx.21424 ings and helps augment brain function, ically enhance our knowledge base), and Gonzalez-Lima, F., and Barrett, D. W. (2014). not just physically in individuals, but also “omnipresence” (cloud and fog comput- Augmentation of cognitive brain function with virtually in society. ing, Twitter, YouTube, Internet of Things, transcranial lasers. Front. Syst. Neurosc. 8:36. doi: Practical ways for enhancing our Internet of Everything). These are the 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00036 Granic, I., Lobel, A., and Engels, R. C. M. E. (2014). noeme (i.e., our digital presence) include: result of the outsourcing of our brain capa- The Benefits of Playing Video Games.American bilities to the cloud in a distributed and Psychologist. Available online at: https://www. • Cultivate a robust social media base, in universal manner, which is an ideal global apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/amp-a0034857. different forums. neural augmentation. The first steps have pdf (Accessed October 5, 2014). • already been taken through brain to brain Grau, C., Ginhoux, R., Riera, A., Nguyen, T. L., Aim for respect, esteem and value Chauvat, H., Berg, M., et al. (2014). Conscious within your virtual environment. communication research. The concept of brain-to-brain communication in humans using • Increase the number of your connec- systems neuroscience is thus expanded to non-invasive technologies. PLoS ONE 9:e105225. tions both in virtual and in real terms. encompass not only the human nervous doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105225 • Stay consistently visible online. network but also a global network with Griffiths, M. (2002). The educational benefits of • videogames. Educ. Health 20, 47–51. Share meaningful information that societal and cultural elements. Helbing, D. (2011). FuturICT-New Science and requires action. Technology to Manage Our Complex, Strongly • Avoid the use of meaningless, trivial or ACKNOWLEDGMENT Connected World. Available online at: http://arxiv. outdated platforms. I thank the help and input of the reviewers, org/abs/1108.6131 (Accessed November 6, 2014). • Increase the unity of your connections particularly the first one who has dedicated Henry, C. (2014). IT and the Legacy of Our Cultural Heritage EDUCAUSE Review, Vol. 49 (Louisville, by using only one (user)name for all a lot of time into improving the paper. CO:D.TeddyDiggs). online and physical platforms. 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