Moheb Costandi

The article Augmented cognition: Science fact or science fiction? said

We live in a time in which we are overwhelmed by information obtained from multiple sources, such as the internet, television, and radio. We are usually unable to give our undivided attention to any one source of information, but instead give “continuous partial attention” to all of them by constantly flitting between them. The limitations of cognitive processes, particularly attention and working memory, place a ceiling on the capacity of the brain to process and store information. It is these processes that some researchers are aiming to enhance with augmented cognition, an emerging field which aims to use computational technology to enhance human performance in various tasks by overcoming the bottlenecks in processes such as attention and memory.
 
Whereas brain-computer interfaces enable people to control various aspects of their environment, the goal of augmented cognition is to determine peoples’ cognitive state in order to enhance it. Augmented cognition has many potential military applications, and its proponents promise that it will also greatly improve productivity in the workplace. Hence, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is conducting research in the area, and corporations such as Microsoft are also showing interest and funding research. Research utilizes a three-pronged approach, whereby advances in cognitive and neural science are combined with information technologies from industry and academia to develop technologies for enhancing human cognitive capabilities.

Moheb Costandi was the author of this article and also writes the excellent Neurophilosophy blog. He earned a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Neuroscience from University College London in 1998. Since then, he has worked as a freelance science writer, a medical communicator, and a science teacher. He recently returned to UCL to study for an M.Sc./ Ph.D. in Neuroscience.
 
Moheb is author of Controlling animal behavior with an optical on/off switch for neurons, A neural substrate for moral decisions, Feelings from a prosthetic limb, Book review: Mind Wars by Jonathan D. Moreno, Parasite hijacks the mind of its host, Imaging transparent brains, Using light to control neuronal activity, Biologically-inspired sonar systems, In vivo imaging of neuronal plasticity in the adult olfactory bulb, Researchers identify putative magnetoreceptors, and Robo-salamander provides clues about evolution of vertebrate locomotion.
 
He lives in London with his partner and young son. Read his blog Neurophilosophy!