Hello Steven,
I am not sure how busy you are but if you have a moment you might find this of interest. I was the student who had to leave early today and brought up the use of tongue stimulation as a method of therapy for "wobblers". You asked me at the time if someone was involved in the project and I cannot remember who you named so I found the relevant articles.
The article about the woman involved in the experiment can be found here: http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2008/07/perpetually_falling_woman_learns_to_balance_with_her_tongue.php
A video of her improving her balance can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&feature=related&hl=iw&v=Z36LxkWt0Dk
I hope that clears up the question of whether or not the researcher you mentioned was involved.
As well as a tack on bonus considering we are doing a unit on vision I thought these two articles might be of interest:
A new imaging technique allows for imaging of rods and cones in great detail (published yesterday): http://www.opticsinfobase.org/boe/abstract.cfm?uri=boe-2-7-1864
The images are found from page 6 onwards if you wish to skip the reading.
As a final note the idea of using a 500x500 array of electrodes for recording or inducing vision got me thinking back to an older article I read that deals with facial hallucinations (sort of along the lines of the person/fire hydrant/car image you showed us), the article can be found here and the upscaling images are found on page 4: http://www.iipl.fudan.edu.cn/~zhangjp/publications/ICME2009.pdf
If you do not have time to bother with these I fully understand,
Thank you for your time,
Stowdashay
I doubt this will be of interest to many but the video showing the woman's ability to balance with the help of electrodes on her tongue is awesome.
That's very interesting. Amazing how her balance improved so quickly.
ReplyDeleteGood read, have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteInteresting video.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like some complicated sciency stuff. I think the professor will like your mail! :)
ReplyDeleteHow does the electrical stimulation compare to the stimulation of imagining holding a floating balloon? I know and have seen how quickly people struggling on one leg stabilize when the imagine holding a balloon with one hand.
ReplyDeleteWow convictus! I tried that and it really does seem to aid in your ability to balance. I will have to ask my professor what is happening in that case. What I can say is that the electrical stimulation in this case was to the tongue and allowed her to feel the different directions via her tongue. I will get back to you on this!
ReplyDeleteThis is so strange, and fascinating. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletesure a good message
ReplyDeleteDon't you know anyone who sticks out or curls their tongue when balancing or aiming?
ReplyDelete