Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation May Provide A Napcap
Do you have trouble getting a good night's sleep? University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are working on a gadget that can help you.
Dr. Giulio Tononi, professor of psychiatry at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health is working on a device that uses transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to stimulate the slow brain waves characteristic of deep sleep.
TMS sends a harmless magnetic pulse through your skull to alter brain activity. In experiments, sleeping volunteers immediately began reproducing the slow, deep waves seen in Stage Three and Stage Four sleep.
Scientists refer to four stages of sleep. In Stage One, the body becomes more relaxed; some areas of the brain are already "asleep." In Stage Two, or light sleep, theta brain waves signal changes in how the brain is working. Stage Three is a deep sleep characterized by both theta and finally delta waves, the deepest stage of sleep. Finally, Stage Four sleep, with only delta waves, arrives, driving your body's respiration, heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature to its lowest point during your day.
Further studies need to be done before it can be determined whether TMS can provide the basis for a safe, helpful sleep device. Dr. Tononi's study was published in the April 30 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
TMS is also being studied as a treatment for severe depression, mania and auditory hallucinations, migraine headaches and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Science fiction writers have been hoping for sleep-inducing gadgets, too. Larry Niven refers to a "nap-cap" in his novel Saturn's Race:
Update: 07-Sep-2024: See also the sleep generator from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), by Arthur C. Clarke.
End update.
Don't doze off before reading these sleep-related stories:
Via TMS. Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing this story out.
"With a single pulse, we were able to induce a wave that looks identical to the waves that the brain makes normally during sleep," said Giulio Tononi.
Ordinary human sleep varies greatly in depth and quality, a vestigial remembrance of the time when Homo habilis need to cycle between deep sleep and near waking, lest in a comalike slumber he fall prey to carnivores. In the napcap a client became an instant yoga master, able to stay in the deepest states for hours, increasing the value of each minute's rest manyfold.
(Read more about the nap-cap)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/8/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
Brain Implant Is Able To Capture Your Inner Dialogue
'So you see, you can hide nothing from me.'
'Pregnancy Humanoids' From China Replace Moms
'A great many of these synthetic babies were made...' - David H. Keller, 1928.
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Proof Of Robothood - Not A Person
'Who are you people? - Show 'em.'
Dancing Robots Taught Dance Moves
'A clockwork figure would be the thing for you...'
Indonesian Clans Battle
'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
The 'Last Mile' In China Crowded With Delivery Robots
Yes, it's a delivery robot. On wheels.
Tornyol Microdrone Kills Mosquitoes
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
PLATO Spacecraft, Hunter Of Habitable Planets, Now Ready
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.'
Factory Humanoid Robots Built By Humanoid Robots
'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'
iPhone Air Fulfils Jobs' Promise From 2007 - A Giant Screen!
'... oblongs were all over the floor and surfaces.'
ChatGPT Now Participates in Group Chats
'...the city was their laboratory in human psychology.'
iPhone Pocket All Sold Out!
'A long, strong, slender net...'
Did The Yautja Have These First?
What a marvel of ingenuity the little device was!
Jetson ONE Air Races Begin, Can Air Polo Be Far Behind?
'If you're one of those rarities who haven't attended a rocket-polo "carnage", let me tell you it's a colorful affair.'
Will Space Stations Have Large Interior Spaces Again?
'They filed clumsily into the battleroom, like children in a swimming pool for the first time, clinging to the handholds along the side.'
Mornine Sales Robot
'Robot-salesmen were everywhere, gesturing...'
Bipedal Robot Floats Gently While Walking
'a walking balloon proceeded with long strides of its aluminum legs...'
Musk Idea Of Cars Talking To Each Other Predicted 70 Years Ago
'My cars talk to one another.'
