March 2, 2004

Mapping the Modern Brain

GW Clinical Professor Richard Restak Explores the Impact of Technology on Brain Function

By Rachel Muir

The quest to unlock the mysteries of the human brain is not a new one. But for much of human history, people’s struggle to comprehend the workings of the mind has been hampered by the crude and perilous nature of brain exploration. That is until now. In the past few decades with the aid of sophisticated new research techniques and technologies, researchers have fundamentally and irrevocably changed their understanding of the human brain.

It’s a change that’s nothing short of “revolutionary,” opening up a host of possibilities that were the stuff of science fiction 20 years ago, according to Richard Restak, MD, a clinical professor of neurology at the GW Medical Center and author of the recently published “The New Brain: How the Modern Age Is Rewiring Your Mind.”

What’s more, said Restak in his book, as researchers are dramatically improving their understanding of the brain, the brain is changing just as dramatically — racing to adapt to the abundance of stimulation thrust on it by the modern world.

In “The New Brain,” Restak explored both how modern technology has affected our processing, comprehension, and brain functioning and how it has enabled us to vastly improve our knowledge of the brain. He also outlined the tremendous potential as well as the ethical dilemmas that are part and parcel of this new era in neuroscience.

Everyday Genius
Just decades ago probing the brain was only possible through hazardous, invasive procedures essentially too risky to undertake on anyone not suffering from a severe mental disorder. “The biggest shift in brain research is the study of the ‘normal’ brain with the result that rather than focusing on diseases and dysfunctions, neuroscientists are probing and examining everyday brain functioning,” Restak said.

Thanks to technologies utilizing computer-driven imaging, such as MRIs and CAT and PET scans, researchers have been able to study the normal brain in “real time.” Such studies have provided new insights into how the mind functions when thinking, performing tasks, experiencing emotions and making decisions. The results are potentially as far-ranging as psychopharmacological drugs tailored to individual needs, accurate lie detector tests based on brain waves, memory-enhancing pharmaceuticals, “brain fingerprinting” that detects changes in electrical activity and direct repair of brain and other neurological damage.

And, Restak said, the research already has implications for everyday life. For example, the new technologies have made possible the comparison of brain functioning of geniuses with that of “average” people. Restak explained that study after study documents “a pattern of intense solitary, deliberate practice among superior performing athletes, chess players, mathematicians and others considered geniuses in their fields.” This pattern — and an ability to store and rapidly retrieve vast quantities of information in long-term memory — appears to account for far more than any difference in brain functioning.

While genetics may be a factor in those select few who reach the top echelons of performers, “the findings dispel the fantasy that a select few are born with innate talents,” said Restak, asserting that Thomas Edison’s famous quote that genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration is true. The implication is that dramatically improving performance — if not reaching the very highest levels — is within our reach, he said.

Information Overload
Technology is changing more than our knowledge about the brain: it’s changing the brain itself. Restak explained that the human brain’s organization and function are literally shifting to adapt to increased demands placed on it by media and technology, including TV, cell phones, E-mail and the Internet, among others. According to him, this technologically driven change in the brain is the biggest modification in the last 200,000 years — the time when the brain volume of homo sapiens reached the modern level.

“Our brains are now being forced to manage increasing amounts of information within shorter and shorter intervals,” Restak stressed. He added that technology also has made possible a multilevel reality that hasn’t been experienced before, enabling people “to reach from one end of the world to another and wipe out differences in time, space and place.” One of the most serious consequences, he said, is the constant challenges to our ability to focus our attention, forcing people to do more than one thing at a time and often to juggle competing and/or conflicting interests.

Restak cautioned that our ability to multitask at the degree demanded by modern technology often comes at a price, pointing to the dramatic increase in Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He suggested the “probability of culturally induced ADD/ADHD” brought on constant over stimulation.

Another dangerous byproduct of our media-driven age, Restak warned, concerns the effects of the disturbing images of violence and death that have become commonplace in the media on emotional expressions and perceptions. “More than a thousand studies have documented a relationship in brain activity between watching violent images, thinking about acting violently, and subsequent violent behavior,” he said. Other hazards of our new knowledge and environment include the potential for misuse and abuse of mind-altering drugs, for example, by those with essentially normal personalities to escape or endure difficult situations.

While it’s impossible to predict exactly where neuroscience will take us in the next century, Restak doesn’t see any immediate end to changes in brain functioning or technology’s role in instigating them.

“The brain’s organization will undergo greater changes during the next several decades than at any time in our history,” he said.

“And technology will continue to be the compelling force behind those modifications. Most important, the changes in our brains brought about by technology will continue to provide us with the challenge of retaining our freedom and sense of identity while simultaneously utilizing soon-to-be-available techniques to vastly expand our mental horizons.”

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