# Neural State Capture **Entity class:** Neurotechnology and continuity method **Collections:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] · [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] ## Definition **Neural State Capture** is the acquisition of time-dependent neural variables needed to characterize a nervous system beyond static anatomy. Candidate measurements include electrical activity, calcium dynamics, neuromodulatory context, synaptic efficacy, molecular state, and behaviorally aligned timing. ## Relationships - It complements the reference anatomy supplied by [[wiki/Connectomics|connectomics]] and cell atlases such as [[wiki/BICAN|BICAN]]. - Captured state becomes input to an [[wiki/Executable Brain Model|Executable Brain Model]] and to tests of [[wiki/State Sufficiency Problem|state sufficiency]]. - [[wiki/Neural Data Provenance|Neural Data Provenance]] records how measurements were obtained, synchronized, transformed, and authorized. - [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] distinguishes dynamic-state capture from static wiring and from identity claims. <!-- BEGIN HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> This entry's documented connections are expressed in its definition and related-work routes, with provenance retained in the source-linked material. <!-- END HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> - **Edge source route:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] connects this topic to exact Annual Question passages promoted into the Simple Reminders archive. - **Neurotech route:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] connects this interface topic to [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] and [[articles/2026 Annual Report on Brain-Computer Interfaces|2026 Annual Report on Brain-Computer Interfaces]]. ## Related Work in the Corpus <!-- BEGIN HUMANIZED CORPUS ROUTES 2026-09-11 --> - In [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]], **V. The brain as dynamical system** provides the narrative context for **Neural State Capture**: Structure without dynamics specifies a circuit diagram with no signals in it. <!-- END HUMANIZED CORPUS ROUTES 2026-09-11 --> ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "If you are a scientist, computers can help you extend your brainpower to create well beyond what was possible a few decades back." > **— Marcelo Gleiser**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Consciousness/Computers Extend Scientists’ Brainpower by Marcelo Gleiser|Computers Extend Scientists’ Brainpower by Marcelo Gleiser]] > "What we normally call thinking is obsessively "goal oriented." But is there a kind of goal serving no purpose—and can only a human brain latch onto such a perverse idea?" > **— Richard Foreman**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Goal-Free Thinking May Be Uniquely Human by Richard Foreman|Goal-Free Thinking May Be Uniquely Human by Richard Foreman]] > "The only viable approach to construct a machine that has the attributes of the human brain is to copy the neuronal circuits underlying thinking." > **— Leo M. Chalupa**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Humanlike Machines Must Copy Neuronal Circuits by Leo M. Chalupa|Humanlike Machines Must Copy Neuronal Circuits by Leo M. Chalupa]] > "In summary, research on intelligence will help us understand the human mind and brain, build more intelligent machines, and improve the mechanisms for collective decisions." > **— Tomaso Poggio**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/AI Control/Intelligence Research Will Reveal Mind and Brain by Tomaso Poggio|Intelligence Research Will Reveal Mind and Brain by Tomaso Poggio]] > "Few doubt that machines will surpass more and more of our distinctively human capabilities—or enhance them via cyborg technology." > **— Martin Rees**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Machines Will Surpass More Human Capabilities by Martin Rees|Machines Will Surpass More Human Capabilities by Martin Rees]] > “Another set of opportunities and responsibilities will arise when radiotelepathy is extended from humans to other animal species. We will then experience directly the joy of a bird flying or a wolf-pack hunting, the pain of a deer hunted or an elephant starved.” > **— Freeman Dyson**, *2009, Edge Annual Question: “WHAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING?”* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Radiotelepathy Will Let Us Feel a Wolf-Pack Hunting by Freeman Dyson|Radiotelepathy Will Let Us Feel a Wolf-Pack Hunting by Freeman Dyson]] > “Jack Gallant, at Berkeley, later improved this technique to the point of decoding entire movies from the traces they evoke in the cortex.” > **— Stanislas Dehaene**, *2013, Edge Annual Question: “WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?”* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Entire Movies Can Be Decoded From the Cortex by Stanislas Dehaene|Entire Movies Can Be Decoded From the Cortex by Stanislas Dehaene]] > “These data might then be mapped to predict an individual's mental state and behavior.” > **— Melanie Swan**, *2013, Edge Annual Question: “WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?”* [[reminders/Surveillance/Biometric Streams Will Predict Your Mental State by Melanie Swan|Biometric Streams Will Predict Your Mental State by Melanie Swan]]