Neuroenhancement Lab, LLC was formed in 2017 to explore Alexander Poltorak’s discovery , that it is possible to “transplant” mental states. Earlier in 2017, Dr. Poltorak realized that brain states, expressed in neural correlates (as first suggested by Crick and Koch in 1994), might be induced in another subject by replicating neural correlates of the state.
Neural correlates of a brain state are neuronal oscillations. Groups of neurons oscillating together generate brainwaves that could be recorded by, for example, EEG or MEG. Dr. Poltorak imagined that the brain is like a symphony orchestra – different groups of neurons oscillate at different frequencies, just as different instrumental groups play different parts of the music score. Together, synchronized by a skilled conductor, all of these instrumental groups produce complex music, such as a symphony. Our brain acts as a highly synchronized orchestra in which various groups of neurons oscillate at distinct frequencies playing different tunes, as it were. Synchronized by the brainwaves, all these tunes combine in the harmoneous symphony of our consciousness. “Music can be recorded and played back. Why can’t we record and play back the music of the brain?” – asked Dr. Poltorak.
He proposed to record the brainwaves of a subject in a desired mental state using anEEG, extract a cortical signature from the EEG recordings, and use this cortical signature of the desired mental state to generate a waveform, which could be used to stimulate another subject, who desires to achieve this mental state, by using, for example, transcranial electric stimulation, light or sound. This idea led to the formation of Neuroenhancement Lab at the end of 2017.
The first pilot sleep study conducted in collaboration with the Neuromodulation Lab at The City College of New York seems to confirm the idea. More studies are presently underway.