Multichannel system for and a multifactorial method of controlling the nervous system of a living organism
First Claim
1. A method of controlling the nervous system of a living organism comprising the steps of:
- a. detecting one or more bioelectrical signals from one or more topological locations in said organism'"'"'s nervous system;
b. passing said one or more bioelectrical signals through a plurality of electronic means responsive to the presence of at least one electrical characteristic of interest in the waveform of a bioelectrical signal, each of said responsive means being adapted to provide a first output signal whenever said electrical characteristic of interest is present;
c. determining by electronic logic means when said plurality of first output signals, or any subset thereof, is present or absent in a predetermined manner indicative of a desired condition of said organism'"'"'s nervous system, said logic means being adapted to provide a second output signal when said desired condition is indicated;
d. transducing said second output signal into a discrete sensory stimulus capable of stimulating at least one of the senses of said organism; and
e. causing said organism to concentrate mentally so as to produce or change the state of said discrete sensory signal;
whereby said organism is trained to alter the waveform pattern of said one or more bioelectrical signals, said discrete sensory stimulus being presented to said organism as a reward for producing our suppressing said electrical characteristics of interest in said one or more signals, thereby achieving said desired condition of said nervous system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A novel method for controlling the nervous system of a living organism for therapeutic and research purposes, among other applications, and an electronic system utilized in, and enabling the practice of, the invented method. Bioelectrical signals generated in specifictopological areas of the organism'"'"'s nervous system, typically areas of the brain, are processed by the invented system so as to produce a sensory stimulus if the system detects the presence or absence, as the case may be, of certain characteristics in the waveform patterns of the bioelectrical signals being monitored. The coincidence of the same or different characteristics in two or more waveform patterns, or the non-coincidence thereof, may be correlated with a certain desired condition of the organism'"'"'s nervous system; likewise, with respect to the coincidence or non-coincidence of different characteristics of a single waveform pattern. In any event, the sensory stimulus provided by the invented system, typically an audio or visual stimulus, or combination thereof, is fed back to the organism which associates its presence with the goal of achieving the desired condition of its nervous system. Responding to the stimulus, the organism can be trained to control the waveform patterns of the monitored bioelectrical signals and thereby, control its own nervous system. The results of the coincidence function permit results heretofore unobtainable.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method of controlling the nervous system of a living organism comprising the steps of:
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a. detecting one or more bioelectrical signals from one or more topological locations in said organism'"'"'s nervous system; b. passing said one or more bioelectrical signals through a plurality of electronic means responsive to the presence of at least one electrical characteristic of interest in the waveform of a bioelectrical signal, each of said responsive means being adapted to provide a first output signal whenever said electrical characteristic of interest is present; c. determining by electronic logic means when said plurality of first output signals, or any subset thereof, is present or absent in a predetermined manner indicative of a desired condition of said organism'"'"'s nervous system, said logic means being adapted to provide a second output signal when said desired condition is indicated; d. transducing said second output signal into a discrete sensory stimulus capable of stimulating at least one of the senses of said organism; and e. causing said organism to concentrate mentally so as to produce or change the state of said discrete sensory signal; whereby said organism is trained to alter the waveform pattern of said one or more bioelectrical signals, said discrete sensory stimulus being presented to said organism as a reward for producing our suppressing said electrical characteristics of interest in said one or more signals, thereby achieving said desired condition of said nervous system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of controlling the nervous system of a living organism comprising the steps of:
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a. detecting one or more bioelectrical signals from one or more topological locations in said organism'"'"'s nervous system; b. passing said one or more bioelectrical signals through a plurality of electronic means responsive to the presence of at least one electrical characteristic of interest in the waveform of a bioelectrical signal, each of said responsive means being adapted to provide a first output signal whenever said electrical characteristic of interest is present, wherein said electrical characteristic of interest in any of said bioelectrical signals is; i. a preselected frequency component thereof; ii. an amplitude thereof greater than a preselected minimum;
oriii. a preselected frequency component thereof having a preselected minimum amplitude; c. determing by electronic logic means when said plurality of first output signals, or any subset thereof, is present or absent in a predetermined manner indicative of a desired condition of said organism'"'"'s nervous system, said logic means being adapted to provide a second output signal when said desired condition is indicated; d. passing said second output signal through a timing circuit adapted to detect whether said second output is present for a preselected minimum duration and to pass said second output signal only if it persists for said minimum duration; e. detecting the presence of at least one undesirable electrical characteristic in the waveform of at least one of said bioelectrical signals; f. inhibiting the appearance of said second output signal by electronic inhibit means when and if said undesirable electrical characteristic is detected; g. transducing said second output signal into a discrete sensory stimulus capable of stimulating at least one of the senses of said organism; and h. causing said organism to concentrate mentally so as to produce or change the state of said discrete sensory signal; whereby said organism is trained to alter the waveform pattern of said one or more bioelectrical signals, said discrete sensory stimulus being presented to said organism as a reward for producing or suppressing said electrical characteristics of interest in said one or more signals, and for suppressing said undesirable electrical characteristic, thereby achieving said desired condition of said nervous system.
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20. A system for controlling the nervous system of a living organism comprising:
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a. one or more means for detecting a bioelectrical signal disposed at one or more topological locations in the nervous system of said organism; b. a plurality of electronic means responsive to the presence of at least one electrical characteristic of interest in the waveform of a bioelectrical signal, each of said responsive means being electrically coupled to one of said bioelectrical signal detection means and being adapted to provide at its output a first output signal whenever said electrical characteristic of interest is present; c. electronic logic means for determining when said plurality of first output signals, or any subset thereof, is present or absent in a predetermined manner indicative of a desired condition of said organism'"'"'s nervous system, said logic means having a plurality of inputs electrical coupled to corresponding outputs from said plurality of responsive means; and d. means for transducing said second output signal into a discrete sensory stimulus capable of stimulating at least one of the senses of said organism, said transducing means being electrically coupled to the output of said logic means; whereby said organism is trained to alter the waveform pattern of said one or more bioelectrical signals by concentrating so as to produce or change the state of said discrete sensory stimulus, said sensory stimulus being presented to said organism as a reward for producing or suppressing said electrical characteristics of interest in said one or more signals, thereby achieving said desired condition of said nervous system. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A system for controlling the nervous system of a living organism comprising:
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a. one or more electrodes adapted to be coupled to one or more topological locations in the nervous system of said organism and to detect one or more bioelectrical signals therein; b. a plurality of electronic means responsive to the presence of at least one electrical characteristic of interest in the waveform of a bioelectrical signal, each of said responsive means being electrically coupled to one of said electrodes through amplifying means and being adapted to provide at its output a first output signal whenever said electrical characteristic of interest is present; c. electronic logic means for determining when said plurality of first output signals, or any subset thereof, is present or absent in a predetermined manner indicative of a desired condition of said organism'"'"'s nervous system, said logic means having a plurality of inputs electrically coupled to corresponding outputs from said plurality of responsive means; d. means for sensing the duration of said second output signal, said duration sensing means being electrically coupled to the output of said logic means and being adapted to pass said second output signal only if it is present for a said preselected minimum duration; e. at least one means for detecting the presence of an undesirable electrical characteristic in the waveform of a bioelectrical signal and adapted to provide at its output an inhibit signal whenever said undesirable characteric is detected, said undesirable characteristic detection means being electrically coupled to one of said bioelectrical signal detection means; f. means for inhibiting the appearance of said second output signal, said inhibit means being responsive to said inhibit signal, the input of said inhibit means being electrically coupled to said undesirable characteristic detection means and the output thereof being electrically coupled to each of said plurality of responsive means and to said duration sensing means; and g. means for transducing said second output signal into a discrete sensory stimulus capable of stimulating at least one of the senses of said organism, said transducing means being electrically coupled to the output of said logic means; whereby said organism is trained to alter the waveform pattern of said one or more bioelectrical signals by concentrating so as to produce or change the state of said discrete sensory stimulus, said sensory stimulus being presented to said organism as a reward for producing or suppressing said electrical characteristics of interest in said one or more signals, and for suppressing said undesirable electrical characteristic, thereby achieving said desired condition of said nervous system.
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Specification