University of Surrey combines AI with brain stimulation
After new research, the university has concluded that AI-Powered brain stimulation at home could enhance concentration
In a new research project, the University of Surrey alongside others has combined Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create headsets that provide personalised brain stimulation from home.
Researchers from the University of Surrey, the University of Oxford and Cognitive Neurotechnology have developed the personalised brain stimulation system powered by AI that can safely enhance concentration from home.
A study took 103 people between the ages of 18 to 35 and had them complete tasks whilst wearing headsets which provided brain stimulation.
Some of these headsets provided stimulation that wasn't personalised, some of them did provide stimulation that was personalised by AI. As well as this they had a placebo group.
Roi Cohen Kadosh is a professor of cognitive neuroscience and the head of School of Psychology at the University of Surrey.
He spoke about how people's individualities meant that providing the same brain stimulation to everyone would be redundant.
"People have different brains, and therefore it works differently, so to give the same stimulation to all of them is not beneficial. So we need to think how to personalise that and this is what we did in this study. We found how to give the most optimal protocol for each individual in order to maximise their performance."
He said that results of the test were decisive in the end.
"We were able to give each individual the stimulation protocol that fits to that fits to who they are in order to maximise their performance now.
In terms of placebo effect, we have in our study a placebo group. So it is not due to placebo and we also had another group which is non personalised and the personalised one is the one that leads to the best outcome."
Kadosh adds that he hopes that in the future they will develop the product in a way which will let anyone be able to use it at home
"What we do now, we develop the product so that people eventually will be able to use it at home whenever they need to improve their performance.
In this case we focused on improving learning so people to be able to perform better for their exams and learn material they need.
What we noticed in our lab based studies, is that by using the product we can actually improve people's learning."
Kadosh, also added that AI should be a reliable tool, but not something people use thoughtlessly.
"If you use it excessively and without thinking behind it, it's also not not a good way to move forward. I think if we know how to leverage the benefits from AI, it's going to improve what we do."