Instant Learning is in Your future

New research suggests it may be possible to learn high-performance tasks with little or no conscious effort. It may be possible to use brain technology to learn to play a piano, reduce mental stress or hit a curve ball with little or no conscious effort. So how do we do it?

Neuroscientists have been using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machines to "read" the brain and see which parts of it "light up" when certain tasks are done. Now they want to use these machines to INDUCE brain activity of the kind that takes place when you perform a complex task. The idea is that if your brain can do it, then YOU can do it–without practice! This only works for visual tasks, but theoretically, it means that ANYONE can become a great artist, musician or sports player (if you have the physical build for it).

The National Science Foundation reports that a person watching a computer screen would have his or her brain patterns modified to match those of a high-performing athlete or modified to recuperate from an accident or disease. The recipient of this brain stimulus doesn’t even need to be aware of what he or she is learning.

Though preliminary, researchers say such possibilities may exist in the future.

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