Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Hacking the Brain

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 153 posts

Re: Hacking the Brain

#51

Post by Insanity »

varjag wrote: post #50
curo wrote: post #5

I have a tangential question around brain hacking. The Flynn effect says we're gaining an avg of 3 IQ pts every decade since the early 20th century. Meaning our great grandparents, on average, would be considered mentally handicapped compared to today's intellect. Now certain biochemical explanations for the Flynn effect explain raw neurophysiological gains (e.g., iodine fortification in the early 20th century added…

Most of the things worth mentioning were invented by these "mentally handicapped" generations. Not sure how that works.

The important thing to note about the parent poster was that he said "on average". Perhaps these things were not invented by average people.

Edit: fix auto correct mistake

Re: Hacking the Brain

#52

Post by mattkrause »

hybrids wrote: post #22
dr_dshiv wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a coffee drinker, eh?

Somehow I feel like the Age of Enlightenment occurring at around the same time as when coffee drinking was becoming increasingly widespread in Europe can't have been a coincidence

As I understand it, the coffee largely replaced alcohol, so there was an effective two-for-one effect of less depressant and more stimulant consumption.

Re: Hacking the Brain

#53

Post by viach »

manmal wrote: post #16

I haven’t found near infrared radiation referenced in the article - I‘m using near infrared as a brain hack, by shining a cheap 850nm LED light on my forehead. This has, over the last 2 years, enabled me to code for weeks on end, for 12+ hours a day, with only minor cognitive decline. It’s not something I really want to do, but sometimes it’s useful. Before I started the near infrared routine (~5 minutes every other…

This is a widely known effect. I work for a big outsourcing company, they equip developers in open spaces with small personal infrared LEDs. It can be mounted to a headset and programmatically connected to pomodoro time tracker, so that they are switched on during rest periods automatically.

Re: Hacking the Brain

#54

Post by rantwasp »

traverseda wrote: post #41
iikoolpp wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the funniest post I've ever read on this website Either it's entirely the placebo effect, or it somehow actually does something and you're cooking your brain to wage slave even harder

Or we live in a reality where that just works, no cooking involved. That would also be amazing and hilarious. "This one simple trick..."

snake-oil salesmen hate him

Re: Hacking the Brain

#55

Post by dr_dshiv »

manmal wrote: post #16

I haven’t found near infrared radiation referenced in the article - I‘m using near infrared as a brain hack, by shining a cheap 850nm LED light on my forehead. This has, over the last 2 years, enabled me to code for weeks on end, for 12+ hours a day, with only minor cognitive decline. It’s not something I really want to do, but sometimes it’s useful. Before I started the near infrared routine (~5 minutes every other…

Improving executive function using transcranial infrared laser stimulation (2015)

Abstract

Transcranial infrared laser stimulation is a new non‐invasive form of low‐level light therapy that may have a wide range of neuropsychological applications. It entails using low‐power and high‐energy‐density infrared light from lasers to increase metabolic energy. Preclinical work showed that this intervention can increase cortical metabolic energy, thereby improving frontal cortex‐based memory function in rats. Barrett and Gonzalez‐Lima (2013, Neuroscience, 230, 13) discovered that transcranial laser stimulation can enhance sustained attention and short‐term memory in humans. We extend this line of work to executive function. Specifically, we ask whether transcranial laser stimulation enhances performance in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task that is considered the gold standard of executive function and is compromised in normal ageing and a number of neuropsychological disorders. We used a laser of a specific wavelength (1,064 nm) that photostimulates cytochrome oxidase – the enzyme catalysing oxygen consumption for metabolic energy production. Increased cytochrome oxidase activity is considered the primary mechanism of action of this intervention. Participants who received laser treatment made fewer errors and showed improved set‐shifting ability relative to placebo controls. These results suggest that transcranial laser stimulation improves executive function and may have exciting potential for treating or preventing deficits resulting from neuropsychological disorders or normal ageing.

Re: Hacking the Brain

#56

Post by titanomachy »

viach wrote: post #53
manmal wrote: post #16

I haven’t found near infrared radiation referenced in the article - I‘m using near infrared as a brain hack, by shining a cheap 850nm LED light on my forehead. This has, over the last 2 years, enabled me to code for weeks on end, for 12+ hours a day, with only minor cognitive decline. It’s not something I really want to do, but sometimes it’s useful. Before I started the near infrared routine (~5 minutes every other…

This is a widely known effect. I work for a big outsourcing company, they equip developers in open spaces with small personal infrared LEDs. It can be mounted to a headset and programmatically connected to pomodoro time tracker, so that they are switched on during rest periods automatically.

This is astonishing. Can you provide any more information or evidence of the prevalence of this practice?

Re: Hacking the Brain

#57

Post by throwawawathrow »

heyoni wrote: post #44
throwawawathrow wrote: post #8

It really takes a special kind of mind to take something originally intended to be fun, subversive and/or spiritual (recreational drugs) that's existed for decades or even centuries, and turn it into yet another tool to boost your React productivity by 12.3% on Friday evenings, under the new brand of 'enhancement' or 'hacking'. Because to what other end would that 'performance' boost be put to use?

Are you gatekeeping drugs for fun only? What kind of mind does it take to do something like that? And is it ok to repurpose drugs for productivity if you channel that energy into solving the worlds problems?

Yes. By posting a comment on a HN thread I am literally forbidding people from doing drugs to keep up with their 70-hour work week at their local adtech startup. I'm that powerful.

Re: Hacking the Brain

#58

Post by throwawawathrow »

bboygravity wrote: post #48
throwawawathrow wrote: post #8

It really takes a special kind of mind to take something originally intended to be fun, subversive and/or spiritual (recreational drugs) that's existed for decades or even centuries, and turn it into yet another tool to boost your React productivity by 12.3% on Friday evenings, under the new brand of 'enhancement' or 'hacking'. Because to what other end would that 'performance' boost be put to use?

According to what bible/religion are "recreational drugs" (whatever the definition of that is) "intended to be" for fun, subversive and/or spiritual use only and why should anybody care? A random fun hypothesis by Paul Staments (in my own words): that the neocortex in humans evolved the way it did, because hominids have been consuming Psilocybin mushrooms for millions of years (until Christians and Nixon banned them…

>According to what bible/religion are "recreational drugs" (whatever the definition of that is) "intended to be" for fun, subversive and/or spiritual use?

No bible but mere history and tradition. That's where the original 'intent' came from.

>why should anybody care?

You shouldn't. This is just a comment on a certain kind of people that likely won't have any effect on them and that they are free to ignore.

Cool theory though. Do you have some links to dig into it? Also could it have applied to other naturally-occuring psychedelics (salvia divinorum, mescaline cacti, etc.)?

Re: Hacking the Brain

#59

Post by heyoni »

throwawawathrow wrote: post #57
heyoni wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you gatekeeping drugs for fun only? What kind of mind does it take to do something like that? And is it ok to repurpose drugs for productivity if you channel that energy into solving the worlds problems?

Yes. By posting a comment on a HN thread I am literally forbidding people from doing drugs to keep up with their 70-hour work week at their local adtech startup. I'm that powerful.

You hear that?

...

That’s the sound of this conversation dying.

Re: Hacking the Brain

#60

Post by trentnix »

not_tobe wrote: post #27
manmal wrote: post #16

I haven’t found near infrared radiation referenced in the article - I‘m using near infrared as a brain hack, by shining a cheap 850nm LED light on my forehead. This has, over the last 2 years, enabled me to code for weeks on end, for 12+ hours a day, with only minor cognitive decline. It’s not something I really want to do, but sometimes it’s useful. Before I started the near infrared routine (~5 minutes every other…

Imagining a bunch of hacker news readers heading to purchase LED lights to shine at their heads just made my day.

I just ordered a dozen for my entire team!
Post reply on HN