Brain hackers
This is the page of the Brain Hackers aka the Neurohacking/Neuromodulation London Hackspace Group. We do experiments and play around with kits to measure and alter brain activity in a non-invasive way and develop novel accessible neurostimulation means accompanied by real time measurement and feedback. Some of us are trained neuroscientists or electronics engineers, others are hobbyists. All friendly and interested people are welcome to volunteer and participate in trials, but everything is obviously at your own risk (where such risk may exist).
We are now in the process of organizing and starting work on a few specific projects from the Project Ideas. More update on this in the coming weeks.
List of kit available by different members of the group:
-EEG -> multiple copies of the 1 channel bipolar (TrueSense Kit) recorder, multiple copies of MindWave Mobile (1 channel) and Muse (4 channels), Emotiv Epoc (14 channels), KT88 (16 channels, photic stimulation), AMEA slow potentials mapper (2 channels)
-tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) -> DIY, via Starstim, via foc.us
-tACS/tPCS (transcranial alternate current stimulation) -> DIY, foc.us, thync, Rhythm-2 2 channel tPCS stimulation device, DrTES (transcranial analgesia device)
-Transcranial laser / decoherent light stimulation within optical permeability window of tissues (roughly between 600 and 1200 nm) -> Matrix LLLT with in-built photometer and external biofeedback block, impulse modulated 890 nm and 635 nm single and matrix lasers, continuous modulated 810 and 640 nm, all-inclusive large laser/LED combining heads
-High Power TMS (short pulses up to 1 Tesla, modulation 2-2500 Hz) - TDHP40DEL with 4 coils.
-Weak field TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation, microtesla range or even lower) -> 64 coil Koren/Murphy/Persinger helmet augmented for placement of more coils, smaller phone tap coils - based hats and setups, large (3m) coil, MIT-MT stimulator (0.1-99 Hz range) with different size coils (induction going up to 30 mT max, 8-shaped configuration up to 10 mT) including coils with centrally positioned high power red, IR and blue LEDs for combined light/photic and magnetic stimulation, Almag-02 Version 2 running field (up to 50 mT) pre-programmed multi-coil stimulator, Gefest peripheral feedback 4-coil stimulator (tissue impedance - modulated low frequency fields up to 10 mT)
- SHF - Aquaton weak (microwatt range) SHF stimulator (1.001 GHz that can be modulated at 0.1, 8 and 16 Hz) with an external antenna
-Other -> photopletismograph with vegetative status estimation capability, modulated high voltage "singing arc", scopes, magnetometers, function generators, amps, shielded random number generator etc.
DIY news: USB fully software-controlled 2 channel combined electro/TMS/infrared stimulator is now fully operational, PoC code that internetworks BCI's from various vendors will be available soon - it already works on Macs with Mindwave and Muse.
Miscellanea: Michael Persinger's "God Helmet" effectiveness has been reproduced by an independent group: http://www.scribd.com/doc/267811996/God-Helmet-Replication-Study
Of course, you are more than welcome to suggest other relevant ideas to test and projects to try. The possibilities are, indeed, "Limitless" (pun intended).
P.S.: folks from Mind Hacking and Biohacking groups are, of course, welcome to join in, but we surely need electronic engineering and coding enthusiasts interested in such matters!
For neuroscience and technical questions and curiosities involving brain hacking, feel free to get in touch with any of the following:
Martin Dinov
Andrew Vladimirov
Dirk Bruere
Some of the popular relevant presentations from Andrew can be found here:
https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/w/index.php?title=File:Cogenhancement_part1.pdf
https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/w/index.php?title=File:Cogenchancement_part2.pdf
https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/w/index.php?title=File:Self_hacking_via_replay_attacks.pdf
https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/w/images/b/b9/The_rise_of_neurosocial_networks.pdf
Some of us on BBC Radio 4 and on Sky TV:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b050zpwt
http://news.sky.com/story/1522367/brain-hacking-on-rise-could-it-make-you-perkier
Us at the first UK Brain hackathon as team Neurocraft:
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/brain-hackathon-hacking-brainwaves-to-extend-the-mind
An article in The Long and Short/New Statesman after a journalist has visited Hackspace:
http://thelongandshort.org/issues/season-four/hooking-up-zapping-your-brain.html
We've got a chapter on the near future of accessible neurostimulation in
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anticipating-2025-radical-changes-whether-ebook/dp/B00L2EAUP8
and another two on neurosocial networks and on machine learning in
http://fob.fastfuturepublishing.com/
with presentation videos available at
http://londonfuturists.com/2015/06/22/the-future-of-business/
Bibliography
Some relevant reading for those who want to go hardcore :-) Of course it is far from being complete and badly needs to be updated, oh well...
Accessible measurement methodologies and BCI
Neurostimulation methods and their effects
Possible molecular level neurostimulation mechanisms and related works
Putative subatomic level mechanisms and related works
Neuronal growth promotion and control via neurostimulation
Neuronal plasticity, learning, memory, the "binding factor"
