Cogntive Enhancement can Integrate Man and Machine

Cognitive enhancement should be conceived as the philosophical issue of the greater subjectivation possibilities for man, as opposed to primarily a bioethical concern. The current world is one in which man and technology are increasingly interlinked. One high-stakes endeavor is cognitive enhancement, of which there are different working definitions. A precise account is that cognitive enhancement is the augmentation of human skills, attributes, and competencies through the use of technology, medicine, and therapy designed to increase human performance capability (Hildt). Another is that it is the amplification or extension of core capacities of the mind through improvement or augmentation of internal or external information processing systems (Bostrom). Another is it refers to any expanded or new capacity of a human being (Buchanan). The salient distillation is that cognitive enhancement is the targeted improvement of natural human cognitive abilities.

The motivation for cognitive enhancement could be twofold. First, there are the obvious practical benefits of improved perception and memory. However, beyond this, more profoundly the reason for seeking improved cognition is the implication that it can facilitate our own growth and development as humans, actualizing ourselves and our potential more rapidly and effectively. Cognitive enhancement is an important topic for investigation because it examines our existence and also the human-technology relation. Increasingly powerful science and technology tools are emerging that may have the potential to dramatically enhance human performance, and perhaps redefine what it is to be human. Technology advances at a much higher rate than man subjectivates, and man and technology are increasingly being integrated together, with technology no longer being seen as an external tool, but as an embedded presence, such that man and technology are co-evolving and subjectivating together. The rights kinds of cognitive enhancement applications might be of benefit for both humans and technology entities, and their potential integration.

References
Bostrom, N., and Sandberg, A. (2009). "Cognitive enhancement: methods, ethics, regulatory challenges." Sci. Eng. Ethics 15, 311–341.
Buchanan, A. (2013). Beyond Humanity: The Ethics of Biomedical Enhancement. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.
Hildt, E. and Franke, A.G., Eds. (2013). Cognitive Enhancement: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Dordrecht DE: Springer.

Human augmentation substrate: the microbiome

The human microbiome, comprising 10x human cells, is interesting not only for its significant role in determining health, disease, drug response, and individuality, but also in possibly being a less-invasive human augmentation substrate, for example, bringing nanoscale connectivity and memory processing modules onboard via the microbiome.

New research has identified that only five microbial lineages exist on humans: firmicutes, bacteriodetes, actinobacteria, proteobacteria, and other phyla which is surprising compared to the diversity of microbial phyla on Earth. However, within the lineages, there are many strains and species, for example 1,600-2,000 distal gut species of microbial bacteria in each person, only 7% of which were known previously (paper). Gut bacteria is critical to human functioning, one activity is producing butyrate in colon epithelial cells to maintain energy homeostasis. (paper, article)

The microbiome is a complex adaptive system: resilience and vulnerability
Research extends beyond characterization - an investigation of perturbations to the human microbiome has shown resilience in recovery following a disturbance. However there is vulnerability with persistent perturbation. The human microbiome may not reassume its initial state unless the disturbance is at a frequency that the system has experienced before and for some time. In this case, the system may get stuck in an alternative state or local maximum. (paper).

Cognitive and social enhancement tools

Computer software and the internet have long been cognitive enhancement tools. Spellchecker obviated the need for spelling skills. Wikipedia and the internet obviated the need for fact memorization. There is less reason to earn a PhD if the module might be available as a cognitive plug-in within a few years.

The need to speak foreign languages is reduced with Google Translate for Android.

Social networks like Facebook are acting as a social prosthetic. It is now possible to have a massively larger context-driven social apparatus with deep-interest specificity.

Accessing, assimilating, applying, and interacting around knowledge and information has become the critical 21c skill set.

Mental enhancement through neuroimaging

In The Neuro Revolution, Zack Lynch contends that there is a coming revolution in neuroimaging technology that could be on the same order as the industrial revolution and the information revolution.

1. Neuroimaging for truth detection
Perhaps the most important application area for neuroimaging is truth detection. According to Joel Huizenga, CEO of NoLieMRI, the annual worldwide market is $36 billion for truth verification. The U.S. government does 40,000 lie detection tests per day, and the Supreme Court acceptance standard is results that have a 95% chance of accuracy. Businesses buy 400,000 tests per year, some of which only have 50% accuracy. FMRIs are much better lie detectors than current tests. Mechanically, more blood goes to other parts of the brain which are related to deception when someone is lying. Explicit lie detection is one demand area but truth verification is much broader. The notion of brain fingerprinting can be used to detect the presence or absence of information in the brain, for example testing knowledge of crime scene details.

2. Neuroimaging for mental illness assessment and rehabilitation
A second important application area for neuroimaging is mental illness identification and rehabilitation. A government-sponsored survey published in 2005 found that almost half of Americans meet the criteria for a mental illness at some point in their lives, and that 25% met the criteria for having a mental illness within the past year. The categories of mental illness assessed were anxiety disorders (panic, post-traumatic stress disorders); mood disorders (major depression, bipolar disease); impulse control disorders (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder); and substance abuse.

In 1990 there were 1.1 million people in U.S. prisons; sixteen years later, in 2006, the number had nearly doubled to 2.1 million. There is a high rate of drug abuse in individuals who are arrested for crime in cities. One claim is that many are self-treating a mental condition (any variety of unproductive mental states) with the primitive tools of drugs and alcohol. 30% of state offenders and 40% of federal offenders are brought on drug charges. Further, a significant percent of inmates have some sort of brain damage or suboptimal brain issue. In the long term, it might be possible to identify and automatically rehabilitate these issues in both at-risk populations and the populace as a whole to improve ongoing mental health.

Conclusions
For fMRI usage to become widespread and routine, there would need to be improvements in several areas including cost, user experience, science findings, and clinical use. However, over time, the wider use of neuroimaging could potentially have a significant impact on human interaction and mental health. There could be interesting cultural changes if there is progress towards a truth-based culture where deception is known and improved levels of mental wellness are sustained across the populace.

Human augmentation via bacterial biome

Human augmentation of physical and mental capabilities by bringing electronics on board seems a likely future. The early stages have already been realized, 10% of Americans are cyborgs today in the sense of having synthetic items permanently implanted: hearing aids, teeth, pacemakers, hip and knee replacements, RFID chips etc. Cochlear implants interfacing with hearing cognition for deaf children are routine. Neuroengineering research has been progressing in the implementation of electroencephalography-based computer controllers. Brain cap video game headsets may become the norm.

There are at least three ways for achieving human-electronic interfaces; physical implants, wearables and a third as yet unconsidered possibility, exploiting the human bacterial biome.

The 1,000 trillion bacteria that are part of each human (10x the number of human cells) could be an ideal augmentation substrate.

There are trillions of them, they are already on board and pass easily and unobtrusively in and out of the human. They are easy to obtain, test and experiment on in the lab. They are expendable. Functionality could be enabled individually, or distributed over the 500 – 100,000 classes of bacteria.

Augmentation applications: communications and processing
The two most important augmentation applications are communications and processing, both of which could potentially be conducted via the human’s microscopic bacteria. Communication is required between the bacteria, which they are already doing to some extent, and externally, to the Internet using wireless, Bluetooth or some other, possibly to be developed protocol. What a vast improvement on board connectivity would be, never having to depend on the vagaries of PC wireless cards, modems and Bluetooth devices.

The second main application is processing, the initial killer app being a memory aid. Coordinating the bacterial biome into a distributed biocomputer for searching, downloading, accessing and delivering information would be an obvious first goal. Other applications could include continuous lifelogging perhaps (literally) through eye cam bacteria, personalized biosensing and remediation of the external environment as it interfaces with humans, virtual reality and nutrient and waste cycling. Electricity from the body could possibly facilitate these computations.

Easy upgrade and maintenance
The continual turnover, ingress and egress of bacteria in humans means that upgrade cycles and retirement of dead or non-functioning elements could occur seamlessly. Bacterial updates could be printed regularly from a 3d printer or automatically dispensed in smarthome air or water. Mechanically, the updates might be delivered through the air, in the shower, or by a nutrient blanket during sleep.

Nanobot intermediaries
Enhancing the human bacterial biome would really just be extending the life support functionality it already provides and could be a nice intermediary step to the more robust bionanodevices and nanobots envisioned in molecular manufacturing. Existing bacteria could be enhanced, much of the human microflora does not appear to be doing anything anyway, or additional bacteria could be engineered and brought on board.