In a discovery that sounds like science fiction, researchers have shown that human brains emit flashes of light that can pass through the skull. These signals are so tiny and faint that they’re a million times dimmer than what we can see, but new research shows they might carry important clues about brain function.
In a study published in iScience, scientists from Algoma University and Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, along with collaborators at Tufts University in Massachusetts, set out to understand whether ultra-weak photon emissions, or UPEs, could be used to track mental states. Their findings open the door to a new, entirely passive way of monitoring brain activity.
UPEs are tiny amounts of light given off by living tissues, something researchers have known about for decades. First described in 1923, these faint glimmers are produced when excited molecules return to a resting state, often as a byproduct of ...
