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Exceeding the Limits: Behavioral Enhancement Via External Influence

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Systems Neuroscience and Rehabilitation

Abstract

Recent studies in cognitive neuroscience point to the possibility that external factors we are not necessarily aware of can augment our perception, cognition, and actions. This chapter described two examples of behavioral limits being overcome by the use of external factors: (1) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and (2) behavioral speed contagion. The use of tDCS to improve cognitive and motor function has been increasingly investigated in double-blind sham-controlled studies. The facilitation effects of anodal tDCS may have great potential for enhancement of cognitive and motor function beyond normal limits or in clinical applications for neuro-rehabilitation. Behavioral speed contagion is an example of unconscious mimicry of an observed behavior, which forces a redefinition of “limits”. In a recent study, subjects tended to modify their reaction times according to others’ movements, even when the observed and to-be-executed movements were unrelated. The influence of others over our own behaviors can potentially be utilized to exceed our behavioral limits. The two approaches presented in this chapter suggest that external influences should not be avoided but instead studied and used, and that our expected limits can be exceeded.

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Acknowledgements

This chapter is based on a talk at the Conference on Systems Neuroscience and Rehabilitation held in Tokorozawa City in March 2010. Some of the materials used are based on other materials [16, 18, 51, 77]. The writing of this chapter was supported by Japan Science and Technology Agency. The author would like to thank Dr. Satoshi Tanaka for helpful comments. Special thanks are due to Dr. Kenji Kansaku for organizing the fruitful workshop.

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  1. Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8904, Japan

    Katsumi Watanabe

  2. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1, Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Katsumi Watanabe

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  1. Katsumi Watanabe
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Correspondence to Katsumi Watanabe .

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  1. Systems Neuroscience Section Department of Rehabilitation for Brain Functions, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities (NRCD), 4-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan

    Kenji Kansaku (Chief) (Chief)

  2. Human Cortical Physiology and Stroke Neurorehabilitation Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) National Institutes of Health (NIH), 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892-1430, USA

    Leonardo G. Cohen (Chief) (Chief)

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Watanabe, K. (2011). Exceeding the Limits: Behavioral Enhancement Via External Influence. In: Kansaku, K., Cohen, L.G. (eds) Systems Neuroscience and Rehabilitation. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54008-3_8

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