Brain Implants

One of my assignments for an Ethics in Psychology class I am taking was to write a response to a news article. I found one that discusses  the future of neuroprosthetics (aka brain implants). Below is the response I wrote for class, but I'm curious to know what other people think of this stuff too!

The article: http://www.ftleavenworthlamp.com/article/20140423/NEWS/304239966/-1/fortnews

Currently, brain implants are being used to restore sight and hearing, and to help control tremors. In the future, they will likely be used to improve memory and focus, to speed learning, and to essentially give people super-human abilities. With a much greater understanding of the brain, it could be possible to create technology similar to that which was used in The Matrix to teach new skills, by essentially downloading them into the brain. Similar technology could be used to repair and enhance vision, creating night vision, automatically zooming vision, and searching the internet based on things we see. This type of technology has recently been used in the popular television show Agents of SHIELD, which allows individuals implemented with this technology to receive messages, see through walls, etc. Future technology will also lead to increased control of robotics which would be incredibly helpful for individuals who are paralyzed or have amputated limbs replaced with prosthetics. 

This type of technology clearly has great implications for the future. This technology could also be used to allow for better memory, attention, mood and alertness. This could be incredibly beneficial for individuals who suffer from disorders such as ADHD, bipolar disorders, and depression. The greater concern with this technology is in children suffering from these disorders. There is already a problem with parents wanting to medicate children for “disorders” without ever having them appropriately tested for the proper course of action. This type of technology could be very tempting for this type of parent, because it would simply require a procedure to fix all of the ‘problems’ in their child, without having to worry about daily medications, or anything of the likes.

There is also research being done by the military to “cure PTSD, depression, and pain” through the use of neuroprosthetics and electric currents. At this point in time, neither of the mentioned disorders are truly able to be cured. This is great cause for interest and would be a revolutionary treatment for all of society if it would be found to work. 

This type of technology is not something that is currently highly regarded in society. There is great concern with pushing forward with this technology before the necessary brain understanding is present. There would be an increased risk at causing more damage, rather than improving current conditions. There is also the problem of accessibility. This type of technology seems like something that would be incredibly expensive, at least at first. It seems like it would be difficult to have it be something insurance companies would be willing to cover. This, then, would exclude this ‘treatment’ to individuals who could potentially benefit from it.

 

Mind Reading Technology

One of my assignments for an Ethics in Psychology class I am taking was to write a response to a news article. I found one that discusses  the future of mind reading technology. Below is the response I wrote for class, but I'm curious to know what other people think of this stuff too!

The article: http://www.wsbt.com/news/health/Scan-a-brain-read-a-mind/25447176

This article strongly follows up with many class discussions on brain scans used to read minds. This type of technology is in very early stages of development, and there is a long way to go until the technology exists to read minds with non-invasive methods. As this type of technology becomes more of a possibility, there are more and more fears instilled in the general public, mainly due to a lack of understanding about how difficult understanding the deeper operations of the human brain truly is. In spite of this, there is still great research being done to “read minds” and learn more about brain structure and function. An example of this, discussed in the author, is a study lead by Allan Cowen which uses fMRIs to reconstruct a face that an individual in the scan is viewing. These recreations aren’t perfect, but have been generally recognizable. Similar technology is also being used to reconstruct viewed videos. This information suggests then that it is possible to “decode dreams based on brain activity” though this is something that would still require a great deal more research before this happened. 

Researchers have also begun working on further ‘brain reading’ technology which could have great implications for our futures. Chun, a Yale Psychology professor, is studying attention, and specifically what happens with brain functions when people essentially zone out. This could have great implications for disorders such as ADHD where these types of experiences are far more common. Another researcher, Stanford neurologist Dr Parvizi, is studying memory retrieval. It is found that we can detect the retrieval of memories, but cannot yet dictate what those memories are. If this technology could be altered so that memories could be retrieved from an individual, on the basis of a brain scan, there could be great implications for individuals with memory impairment disorders such as Alzheimer’s. 

Through all of this, as technology continues to advance, there will be great concerns with privacy and autonomy. At some point, people will likely be asking “what if I don’t want my thoughts read, or my memories accessed?” This is going to be a concern pressing forward that will only be able to be addressed through adequate education. And even if it were possible to properly educate individuals about this technology, people would still have fears and concerns. This is something that will happen in time, and it is with that technology that, over time, will require a great deal of education.

Memory Dampening

Recently, I had a bit of a conversation on Twitter about memory dampening. It is a concept, within neuroethics, that is currently being discussed in my Ethics in Psychology class. Since people seemed to be interested in it, I figured I'd share some knowledge that I have, in a way more effective than 140 characters at a time.

For starters, I should probably explain what neuroethics is. Wikipedia is incredibly helpful for a basic definition of neuroehtics and it says that it "concerns the ethical, legal and social impact of neuroscience, including the ways in which neurotechnology can be used to predict or alter human behavior and the implications of our mechanistic understanding of brain function for society... integrating neuroscientific knowledge with ethical and social thought."  That doesn't do a great job of understanding what neuroethics is, if you don't have any background knowledge. So, basically, it's the ethical considerations of the use of neurotechnology (medications, treatments, etc) for various things to change how humans act or react to situations in society.

One of these things specifically is beta-blocker medications which would be used for memory dampening. Now, it's important to explain what memory dampening is because it's a complicated thing. It is not the removal of memories. It is not targeted to specific memories. It is essentially removing the pain from memories. It leaves the memories in tact, but dampens (lessens) the emotional aspect of it. However, this type of medication would have to be taken within a span of a few hours before or after a traumatic event. There is also speculation that it could provide the same results in a situation similar to that of someone with PTSD who is re-experiencing the event in their mind, with all of the emotional turmoil that was previously experienced in the initial event.

There are a lot of ethical concerns with using these types of medications. These are the questions that researchers and doctors have to be able to answer. Some of them are as follows:
-Do we selectively chose who has access to these drugs based on their susceptibility to PTSD? If so, how do we decide who is truly susceptible when the effects of "trauma" are different for everyone? What is traumatic for one person may not be for another.
-Do we allow doctors to prescribe these medications immediately after moments of trauma (ie natural disasters, assaults, etc) while the patient is unable to assess the potential risks and benefits of the medications?
-Are we okay with changing the fundamental nature memory has for the formation of individual personality, for the sake of dulling the pain of an event?
-If we use these drugs, how will people learn to deal with pain?
-How do we judge when pain becomes too much, and thus worth the use of these drugs?
-When, in treatment, do we introduce these drugs? By themselves, prior to therapy, in conjunction with therapy, or after therapy has concluded?

There are many more issues associated with these beta blocker drugs to dampen the emotional effects of memories. Obviously I can't write everything about it because then I'd have to write a book and not a blog post. But the above is a brief enough explanation to scratch the surface and allow enough understanding to be able to adequately ask questions about what is going on.

With that objective introduction out of the way, here's how I feel about it. Personally, I would never take memory dampening drugs. I do live with mild PTSD symptoms due to past experiences. But I know that my life experiences have shaped the person that I am. I would not have the view on life that my stable self has, if it weren't for the pains I have endured in my life. My mind is my most powerful weapon and my most valued possession. It is what makes me who I am.  I do what I can to constantly expand my mind, and strengthen the neuronal connections of my brain. It is for this reason that I have taken five years of French, and three years of Spanish, and want to pursue further language acquisition. This is one of the reasons why I actively pursue trying to be creative in many different ways. The more you use your brain in different ways, the stronger it becomes. I do all I can to add to my brain. Removing memories would not only take away my natural ability to deal with trouble in life, but it would also change who I am. I am primarily against the use of using memory dampening drugs, because there is a lot of bad that comes from it, and in most cases it seems the risks would outweigh the benefits.

Conversely, I can also see the beneficial side of it.For some people, traumatic experiences become so controlling over their lives that it is incredibly debilitating. For these people, I can see where the medications would be beneficial. I do feel though that it is necessary for these medications to be used in conjunction with therapy in order to attain the most beneficial coping skills to be able to go back to leading a normal life.

This is just an overview of beta blockers and how they work, and an introduction of some of the issues related to them. I have a lot more opinions about this stuff, and could go on for far longer than I probably should, so if you want to know how I feel about a more specific aspect of this stuff, please feel free to ask! You can ask in the comments here, email me at jenn.morton.01@gmail.com or find me on twitter: @jennmorton01

Liquor Fueled Slash Fic Contest!

If you listen to Liquor Fueled, you know of the epic, life long bromance between Rem and Phytt. Well, that's developed into quite an adventure. Thanks to Huellhowser's suggestions, we now have the first ever Liquor Fueled contest!

It is quite simple, but will be a lot of fun! Write a Slash Fic about the hosts. Rem, Phytt, Huell, and whoever else you think needs to be in it are all fair game, but not everyone is required. Use your best judgement for a unique story! Send it in to us, and we will read them on the show. Some might be read by Huell and myself, and others will be role played by Rem and Phytt!

The rules are simple:

1. Write a Slash Fic about the Liquor Fueled hosts. There is no length requirement. There is no content requirement (aside from the Slash Fic part). 
2. Submit your story no later than Wednesday March 13th. You can email your story to Huell at wowhuellhowser@gmail.com or to me at jenn.morton.01@gmail.com
3. Join us for the live show to hear your story on the air! (this isn't a requirement as much as it is a suggestion)

Need more motivation? There's prizes! The best story (as judged by the Liquor Fueled Crew) will win a WoW time card, and the runner up story will win the pet of their choice from the WoW store!

Questions? Concerns? You can address them in the comments here, on the Liquor Fueled Twitter page, on the Storm Ride Cast Twitter page, or shoot us an email!

How I Feel About Gay Rights

With the recent news in Arizona, I'm a little pissed off. Normally, I stay out of politics, and don't share my opinions, but this is just ridiculous. If you don't know what happened, quite simply, Arizona lawmakers passed a bill that, if signed into law, would allow business owners to deny service to gay and lesbian customers. This is terrible. Especially when so many states are moving forward and bringing about acceptance and greater rights to the restricted, this is a huge smack in the face.

Personally, I don't think there should be a such thing as gay rights, or women's rights, or men's rights, or children's rights, or any other type of rights that are applied to a specific group. Now, don't assume I think these groups of people don't deserve these rights. They absolutely do. HOWEVER, segregating it into different groups is the part that bothers me. HUMAN RIGHTS is the over-arching issue. Gays and lesbians, at the core, are human. Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Europeans, Americans, at the core, are human. Women are human. Men are human. Children are human. At the bare basics, what matters is humanity. I don't care what color you are, how tall or short you are, how thin or fat you are, what religion you subscribe to, what your sexual orientation is, or anything else that can be up for discrimination. If you're human that's what counts. (I care about other stuff besides humans, but that's not the point of this post.) If you're a good person, that matters a hell of a lot more than if you're gay or straight, male or female, or anything else. If you're a jerk, well, you're a jerk. There are people out there who get along so well with everyone, and then as soon as they find out someone is gay, all of a sudden that person is labeled, put down, and rejected. Because of who they are. And that's fucked up.

What I don't understand is why people can't put there differences aside and just treat people well. Calling someone a bad person, or evil, or rejecting basic human rights because of who they are is one of the worst things that you can do. So many people have fought so hard for human rights. There was an entire freaking Civil Rights Movement because of it, yet here we are. It's 2014. In the United States, you can be black and go wherever you want. Some areas of the country still don't like it, but damnit you're allowed to be there. In this country, 17 states and DC have legalized gay marriage, 8 Native American tribal jurisdictions issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and many other states will accept gay marriage licenses from other states for varying purposes. Many other states are slowly moving toward a free-er society for gay and lesbian individuals by naming same sex marriage bans unconstitutional. And then along comes Arizona and says "Fuck you, we'll do what we want". To be perfectly clear, I have nothing against the state of Arizona. My issue stands purely with this bill that basically says segregation and discrimination are entirely acceptable at the free will of others.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has a number of articles that apply to this situation, to which I underlined the specific portions that I feel stand out. These are not rights outlined by any specific country or government faction, but by the United Nations which is an organization "committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights". They are as follows:

Article 1.

• All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.

• Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.

• Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 5.

• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 7.

• All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 16.

• (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
• (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
• (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Now obviously there's a damn good chance people are going to disagree with me.  I respect any and all opinions that are not fueled by ignorance, and are presented in a respectful manner. I understand and accept that people will disagree with me. I am open to hearing all points of view, as long as they are presented in a respectful manner. As much as you might disagree with me, others will likely disagree with you. It's life. It happens. I'm just saying... please don't be a jerk. Everything I wrote here is MY OPINION, some of which is supported by fact (laws in place, written documentation of generally accepted principles, etc). In no way does that make my opinion fact. It is simply how I feel. With that being said, my rant is over.

A Female Gamer in a Professional World

There is a lot of complexity in what seems to be such a simple title. But I can break it down into three categories: Female gamer, gamer in a professional world (at work), and gamer in a professional world (as a senior in college).

Being a female gamer certainly does have its challenges. Hell, being a female nerd has its challenges. When I first started getting more into the nerdy stuff, I realized there were some comic book stores I simply couldn't go to. There were places where I would walk in, and everyone would stare at me. I hated it. Yeah I'm female, and I'm pretty, but that doesn't mean I want to be stared at for going into a comic book store. But it has gotten to a point where I know which comic book stores will have a clientele that is most accepting of everybody. One of the comic book stores I frequent even has females working in the store. It's nice to see places that are so accepting, but I have to say, it sucked at first, and made me not want to go to comic book stores. Finding the places where I feel I belong has made it so much easier. The only time it's still kind of a problem is on Free Comic Book Day where I tend to get some looks no matter where I go. But that day is only once a year and it's worth it because free comic books.

In games, it's a different story. In WoW, I most often play a male character. There have been very obvious differences between how people treated me before and after knowing I'm a girl. When talking to people in the guild, quite often I would get called 'buddy' or 'dude' and as soon as I referred to myself as a lady (I don't remember the context of the conversation, but hey, I'm a lady - or something) all of that stopped. Well, aside from the few guys that talk to me like that anyway. Also, there was a time when I was in a dungeon. It was all male characters except for the healers. We all wiped, and there was a comment made by somebody that said something along the lines of "why don't one of the guys run back so she doesn't have to?" Though I don't know the thoughts behind the statement, it made me think of the general stereotypes that women are weak. Why can't the healer run back? As the healer, I feel like that's kind of part of the job. It takes the same amount of time and effort for anybody else to run back as it would for the healer. I could be wrong, but still. Girls are just as capable of this stuff as guys. And nobody even knows if the player behind that character was male or female. I should stop. I could go on a rant about how female gamers are treated in game. Maybe someday I will, cuz it's on my mind a lot, and this post is kind of like the prequel to that.

Being a gamer and a nerd in a professional working environment certainly has its challenges and this is entirely due to stereotypes. I am more than aware of when these stereotypes are targeted my way, but I normally don't say anything about it. I started my current job last May, and one morning on the way to court with the Victim Advocate, I was talking about the upcoming Comic Con in Philly. Her response was "Oh, you do that kind of stuff?" It wasn't so much what she said, but how she said it. Like it was a bad thing that I have those types of interests. So with her, I don't talk about it anymore. The current Executive Director seems to have a bit of a nerdy side, when it comes to TV shows and movies. This is nice because I can talk to him about Agents of SHIELD and the newest Marvel movies and stuff like that. However, he doesn't understand gaming. He has this view point that all I do in my free time is play video games. That is most certainly not the case. I do have other interests. But he makes jokes about it and doesn't look down on me because I play video games, so it works out.

Being a gamer/nerd as a senior in college has certainly been a challenge. It is often a challenge to make friends. I take classes with a lot of students who don't have similar interests as I do, so it's rare to find somebody to relate to. There have been times where I'll talk to people in my classes, and if I make one comment about video games, comic books, comic cons, etc. things just get awkwardly silent, or conversations after that point in time get very brief. But there are occasional glimmers of hope in between all of this chaos of rejection. For instance, last semester, I made a comment about NYCC to my bio lab partner during awkward small talk before class, and after that moment, we always had something to talk about. See, he plays a lot of XBOX games and is interested in going to comic cons though he has never been to one. He also reads some comic books. So we were able to talk about stuff other than the weather, and our class. It was nice, however it never became a friendship, but I did get a comic book recommendation out of it, and plan on picking up that comic book later today. Also, after NYCC I wore the tshirt I got while I was there, which had the NYCC logo on the back of it. In one of my classes, the girls behind me started asking me about it and about my experiences, so that was cool. Unfortunately though, more often than not, when I discuss my interests with people in my classes I get rejected. People stop talking to me, or in rare occasions, flat out tell me why I'm wrong for having these interests. I have had people tell me I should try harder to make friends. Well, when you're the type of person who has an irrational fear of rejection, and constantly gets rejected when the topic of interests comes up, it's hard to keep trying to make friends. A lot of people don't seem to understand that. The pattern is rejection. The fear is rejection. What reason do I have to keep trying? I have friends via the internet that allow me to talk about my interests. I have one real life friend who knows full well about my interests and hobbies, and though she doesn't take part in any of these activities at all, she has no problem with what I do. We are very different people, but she's a great friend and we get along so well together. Unfortunately, she graduated last year so I only see her once every few months.

So, being a female in a nerdy world sucks sometimes. There is a lot of judgement, a lot of stereotypes imposed upon me, and just general crap that I shouldn't have to deal with. But I'm a successful, nerdy, female gamer and I'm proud of it. Don't like it? Then why the hell did you read this? Wanna know more about my experiences, or the types of nerdy things I'm into aside from WoW? Wanna share your own stories of living the life of a gamer/nerd when others don't accept it? Well, that's what the comments section is for!

Dungeons = Anxiety

So I haven't written about anything specific in WoW recently. I shall change that now. Today, I spent far too much time queued into Dungeon Finder in Zangarmarsh because  I am trying to get Exalted Rep so I can get the Cenarion War Hippogryph. So, today I started attacking those dungeons to work my Rep up through Honored, which is where I started with this attempt.

Anyway, my first dungeon today was interesting. I ended up leaving the Instance because that group sucked. And no, I wasn't just a jerk who left cuz they sucked. A shitty healer left me with a few deaths. I got sick of running back and dealing with res sickness and all that crap. Somebody else randomly got kicked or left, though I don't remember which, or why. Anyway, it got to a point where I was trying to run back and got killed by other monsters and shit, cuz monsters. Also, I was queued into that one for about an hour and a half.

The next queue was significantly shorter, but still too long. Closer to a half hour. Long story short, it ended with two people. We had to kick the tank because he kept giving us the response of 'brb' right after a kill, and then it got to a point where we were ready to progress in the dungeon and were on a ramp, and the tank just stopped. So the rest of us stopped. And we stood there for a good ten minutes or so. So another person took over, we kicked the tank because he stopped responding, and we pressed on! Then, out of nowhere, and for no reason, one of our DPS left. No warning, nothing happened to cause it, just gone. So then there were three - two DPS and a healer. We were doing great, until I got pegged as leader due to the automatic system stuff. And then I had a minor freak out moment. So I refused to lead. And by that, I mean I'd start walking, then the other two would follow, then I'd stop so I could follow them. It worked well. But I couldn't possibly be okay with leading a group. Maybe if it was people I knew, MAYBE, but probably not. I'm a better follower. Being a leader just puts way too much focus on me. Maybe in the future I could be better at it, but right now I'm not okay with it. Anyway, we got to a point where the healer died (right after me) and then he NEVER came back. So it was just us two DPS. I eventually got back, and we kept going. We got to one of the big boss guys and stood there for a second. Then he talked to me. And I got scared. See, I don't like to talk. I like to be invisible. But he was nice. We agreed we couldn't beat the guy without a healer, but thanks to me stepping up and suggesting it, we decided to give it a try anyway. We failed. Not miserably because big boss guy was at about half health which I think is pretty good for only two DPS. But we both died. So that was the end of that, or so I thought. We chatted for another moment or two afterwards and the guy was actually really nice. So, yeah, for me having really bad luck with shitty dungeons, that guy was nice. So to that guy (girl?) if by chance you read this, thank you.

So yeah, being front and center in WoW causes anxiety for me and it sucks, but yaknow, it's all part of living the life of me. I'm working on it though, and that's good. If anybody wants to run a dungeon with me, you know where to find me! Not really, but if you want to, there are ways to contact me. Like Twitter if you have it, or in the comments section if you don't. Or in game, cuz there's that too, if you have it. But you probably don't. I'm gonna shut up now.