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What's new in the CogSci world?

Lab-grown mini-brains spontaneously produced ‘human-like’ brain waves for the first time

Researchers from UCSD have used stem cells to grow brain “organoids” over a span of 10 months. The electrical activity in these mini brains occurred at a higher rate than what has been documented before in other lab-grown organoids. The electrical patterns were chaotic and resembled patterns similar to that of the brains of premature babies. There is a current lack of accessibility to information regarding the initial stages of brain development, which makes it difficult to study and understand the impact of brain disorders, like epilepsy, in infants. Researchers ultimately hope their work will help facilitate further research in the study of the early stages of brain disorders. However, this research has also fostered further debate and discussion on the accuracy of using such organoids to model the development of early-stage brain disorders. Although the patterns of activity may resemble each other, it is still difficult to form conclusions about the underlying mechanisms of the electrical activity.

Machine learning used to automatically detect mind wandering during driving

We’re all guilty of it, whether it be in class or during a drive. Our mind wanders. It’s unintentional, but it still happens. However, studies have shown that mind wandering (MW) is inversely correlated with driver safety; the less a person pays attention while driving, the greater the likelihood of an accident.
This study served (and was the first of its kind) to successfully build and utilize models capable of automatically detecting MW during driving. To do so, participants were first tested on their reaction time in a car-following task and upon hearing a tone, self-reported their MW state. Then, modelling and machine learning methods were used to classify driving behavior variables (e.g., distance between vehicles and acceleration/deceleration) into two groups: MW-absent and MW-present. This study is just one example of how machine learning is used in real life, as results showed that mind wandering frequency increased over time, and researchers expect this detecting system could be adjusted for everyone in everyday life.