[avianlyric]

There’s a big difference between processing multiple streams, and processing multiple streams simultaneously.

You can achieve the former, without the latter, by doing time slicing. Spending a small amount of time processing stream A, then dropping that and processing stream B for a moment, then swapping back. Just like how a single core CPU can process multiple threads.

Proving the brain is continuously processing and encoding multiple streams simultaneously is an interesting finding that helps us better understand how our brains handle multitasking. That’s absolutely something worth studying and understanding, even if the headline discovery “feels” obvious. It the precise mechanism that’s interesting, not the effect the mechanism produces.

[gala8y]

When I meditated a lot, I was able to sit in a cafe and listen to 3 conversations without switching and be able to understand them and remember them all. It happened to me few times. Also, once, sleeping in a tent, a voice from a dream interfered with sound of raindrops and became distorted and I woke up scared only to quickly get what just happened.

[aatd86]

Not sure why you are downvoted. Well it probably doesnt require meditation because split attention is somewhat common here. My mother can follow multiple discussions like have a phone conversation and understand what I tell her. In general I can't.

So a bit harder for me. I can focus on work and follow some podcasts but not speak and at the same time listen to a full parallel convo.

I do believe brain to brain communication exists from experience too. People will be quick to call it schizophrenia and indeed it can be maddening because it evidently reuses your neurotransmitters for information propagation. That includes dopamine and can lead to the same issues some diagnosed people have, but actually a couple at the same time.

Without visual hallucinations but the brain gets a bit taken still, since it has to share processing. So it can induce adhd like symptoms, loss of phantasia, nucleus acumbens becoming nucleus incumbered :D, impaired motivation, etc.. But it is transient and you can argue it within yourself with some amount of relief. If you notice and start a loop of wondering where it comes from you are toast though.

Anyway, probably saying too much. You have to experience it. Probably someone playing with AI and neurochemistry. Still can't figure out the actual transport system. It does not make much sense from a wavelength point of view. Even if merely HF acoustic waves (since they can be more directed) not quite sure. Should ask whoever big galaxy brain created the havana effect... \sarcasm

At the same time people already know publicly how to decode brain signals and turn them into movements and Computer Interface actions. So the brain is not a complete blackbox. Some people might be further along...

Anyway... we will know eventually what is this all about..

[reformd]

likely related to how trained and some untrained dogs sense what you are up to consciously or not (yet).

brains smell/decode info that we don't have an actual odor (but receptors) for.

it's also why (some) pets and animals react to their human's mood/attitude and short-, mid-, long-term stress (and other) hormone levels.

some people get their energy drained by persons that they are not even aware of being in proximity (e.g. dad got home after work while child is wearing headphones). it can become a matter of good or bad resilience, too, and some brains can develop defence mechanisms by mere exposure while others can't, which is likely (definitely) entangled in/with hormone metabolisms.

[willy_k]

I say this as someone recognizing myself: learn the real, detailed, mechanistic, intelligible science. The world does not work like sci-fi, despite how many people make claims that amount to as much (with 0 actual evident evidence). That is not to say that all there is is what’s readily apparent. But when you forgo that assumption, you have to be careful because it easily slips into ur own understanding of what “there is” becoming overly skewed towards things that are not apparent (read: the brain feeding into its own maladaptive patterns of connection, making up things and then falling into confirmation bias). Physical reality is the base, at least when regarding things practically.

[aatd86]

Oh for sure, doing any otherwise would lead someone to psychosis very easily. Coming from a family of MDs and being educated in multiple scientific fields myself, I still don't have an answer. But one thing for certain, you have to disregard everything, including religious beliefs and go by the scientific method.

There are tell-tale signs that people will tell you to ignore like fasciculations (muscle twitching) noticeable with the naked eye which are a signs that neuro transmission is peaking more than normal (that would be glutamate-linked).

The problem is that people don't have an answer even after doing Root Cause Analysis. Leaves you like someone trying to explain how the sun looks to someone who is blind.

Occam's razor.

[DrScientist]

> Spending a small amount of time processing stream A, then dropping that and processing stream B for a moment, then swapping back. Just like how a single core CPU can process multiple threads.

The brain isn't a computer with a single CPU - just because computers are built that way doesn't mean the brain is.

Ie it's only surprising if you start with an erroneous computer based model of how the brain works.

The paper is interesting in that it looks at a core interesting issue - which is how conscious attention is managed given we know that behind the scenes it's 'everything all at once'.