American Security Today May 2017 Digital Magazine American Security Today May 2017 Digital Magazine | Page 58

Volume 12
tutions in a coordinated research program that
focuses initially on the fundamental science of
brain plasticity and aims to conclude with human
trials in healthy volunteers.
To facilitate transition into real-world applications,
some of the teams will work with intelligence an-
alysts and foreign language specialists to under-
stand how they train currently so that the TNT
platform might be refined around their needs.
The program will also compare the efficacy of
invasive (via an implanted device) versus non-
invasive stimulation, investigate how to avoid po-
tential risks and side effects of stimulation, and
hold a workshop on the ethics of using neuro-
stimulation to enhance learning.
(Hear from Dr. Doug Weber, Program Manager in DARPA’s
Biological Technologies Office (BTO), discusses how self-
healing may become possible by recording and modulating
the body’s peripheral nervous system. Courtesy of DARPA
and YouTube)
The first half of the TNT program focuses on de-
ciphering the neural mechanisms underlying the
influence of nerve stimulation on brain plasticity;
discovering physiological indicators that can ver-
ify when stimulation is working effectively; and
identifying and mitigating any potential side ef-
fects of nerve stimulation.
The second half of the program will focus on us-
ing the technology in a variety of training exer-
cises to measure improvements in the rate and
extent of learning.
May 2017 Edition
The institutions listed below are leading teams
exploring aspects of using stimulation to activate
plasticity.
• An Arizona State University team led by Dr.
Stephen Helms Tillery is targeting stimulation
of the trigeminal nerve to promote synaptic
plasticity in the sensorimotor and visual sys-
tems of the brain.
• Through partnerships with the Air Force
Research Laboratory, the U.S . Air Force’s
711th Human Performance Wing, and the
U.S. Army Research Institute of Environ-
mental Medicine, the team will evaluate
TNT stimulation protocols with two groups
of volunteers—one studying intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance, and
another practicing marksmanship and de-
cision-making.
• A Johns Hopkins University team led by Dr.
Xiaoqin Wang is focusing on regions of the
brain involved in speech and hearing to un-
derstand the effects of plasticity on language
learning.
• The team will compare the efficacy of in-
vasive versus non-invasive vagal nerve
stimulation (VNS), testing the ability of
volunteers to discriminate phonemes,
learn words and grammar, and produce
the unique sounds demanded by some
foreign languages.
• In one of two efforts DARPA is funding at the
University of Florida, a team led by Dr. Kevin
Otto is identifying which neural pathways in
the brain VNS activates.
• The team will also conduct behavioral
studies in rodents to determine the impact
of VNS on perception, executive function,
decision-making, and spatial navigation.
• In the second University of Florida effort, a
team led by Dr. Karim Oweiss will use an all-
optical approach combining fluorescent imag-
ing and optogenetics to interrogate the neu-
ral circuity that connects neuromodulatory
centers in the deep brain to decision-making
regions in the prefrontal cortex, and optimize
VNS parameters around this circuitry to ac-
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