In the movie the Matrix, Neo discovers that while in the Matrix he can quickly have skills implanted into his brain. My favorite part is when he wakes up and says, "I know Kung Fu." While implanting skills is not yet a reality, their is a pill that may be available to us in the near future that could help us to learn new skills. Skills that normally would have to be learned at a very young age.
For instance, some languages have sounds that must be learned in a developmental stage or you just won't be able to master them. For example, the rolling R of Spanish. If you didn't learn it watching public television shows or in school... You just ain't gonna be able to do it.
Well that may all change now with some research being conducted by Dr. Takao Hensch with Harvard. The experiment revolves around a persons ability to hear with perfect pitch. (the ability to accurately name any musical note you hear) The article indicates that only 1 in 10,000 have the ability. It also says that if you don't develop this ability at a young age, you can't as an adult. However, Dr. Hensch may have found a pill that changes all that.
He has taken the epilepsy drug Valproate and given it to control groups. He then put them through online ear-training exercises for two weeks. What he found was that the group taking the drug, and not the placebo, had significant improvement. Apparently restoring the brain's plasticity normally lost after childhood. HOW COOL IS THAT!
Who knows, in another 50 years maybe we will be able to take a pill and "poof" you now know Kung Fu.
Here is the link to the original article.
-Red
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