SCIENTISTS are developing a helmet to enhance brain function by monitoring and regulating brain waves and integrating artificial intelligence technology.

Wei Pengfei, of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said his team is developing a brain function enhancement system with the goal of improving the brain’s ability to perform complex tasks and regulate abnormal emotions.

The helmet could be applied in the training of special personnel to speed up an increase in memory and skills and to alleviate anxiety caused by tension.

The technology is also expected to help treat children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and people suffering from depression, Alzheimer’s disease, aphasia and Parkinson’s disease, said Wei.

Surgically implanted deep-brain stimulation technology first emerged in the 1960s. At the beginning of this century, scientists developed electroencephalogram feedback technology and brain-computer interface technology.

In recent years, noninvasive stimulation and regulation technology has been able to intervene in and regulate brain activities more quickly, becoming a new focus in brain research and neuroscience.

The helmet is based on noninvasive brain stimulation and regulation technology, said Wei. It uses flexible electrode sensors to identify brain waves when the brain is performing different tasks. Electrodes then release weak-current pulses that can reach specific areas of the brain to alter brain waves and regulate the active state of neurons.

An artificial intelligence algorithm reads brain activity in real time and calculates stimulation parameters to achieve precise and personalized regulation.

The research team, at the Institute of Brain Cognition and Brain Disease of SIAT, has a research platform for rodents, nonhuman primates and humans.

The team has also developed tests for cognitive ability.

For example, trial participants wore the helmet for about 15 minutes, and then were required to quickly memorize a string of numbers, English letters or words. The test found the average accuracy rate of their memories had improved within two hours.

However, the data is still insufficient, said Wei. Large-scale double-blind experiments among people of different ages and groups are needed to accumulate convincing data.

So far, researchers have developed a prototype of the first-generation helmet, which can implement feedback control on the brain waves of the cerebral cortex. The team is developing a second iteration of the helmet, aiming to achieve noninvasive deep-brain stimulation.

They also intend to cooperate with hospitals in clinical tests on patients with autism and schizophrenia and children with ADHD. (Xinhua)