<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When stimuli enter the brain, a memory generates from </span><a href="https://news.usc.edu/86658/new-device-aims-to-help-people-struggling-with-memory-loss/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">complex electrical signals</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> traveling through various areas of the hippocampus. Along the way, the signal is re-encoded until the final stage, at which point it gets diverted for long-term storage. Any brain damage that prevents this coding or translation process could prevent a long-term memory from forming. For instance, people with Alzheimer’s can often remember events from the distant past—before the disease damaged their hippocampus—but not more recent events. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the USC study, the researchers successfully boosted the memory capacity of humans by </span><a href="http://www.iflscience.com/technology/brain-implant-appears-to-boost-memory-in-humans/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">supplying the proper electrical signals</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to the participants’ hippocampus to boost the regular neural pathways used to create a memory. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The research team </span><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153034-brain-implant-boosts-human-memory-by-mimicking-how-we-learn/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">first gathered data</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> about the participants’ brain activity with the implant in place. During this phase, each participant performed a preliminary short-term memory test, attempting to recall unusual shapes five to 10 seconds after seeing them. Then, the participants engaged in a more challenging version—known as a working memory test—where they were asked to recall images seen 10 and 40 minutes ago. The team followed participants’ brain activity during these tests and designed an electrical stimulation to target the areas that lit up during their best recall. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">During the </span><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153034-brain-implant-boosts-human-memory-by-mimicking-how-we-learn/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">second round of testing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the team broke the stimulation patterns into thirds: one-third of the time simulating their observations from the pre-test—which would theoretically be helpful; another third supplying random stimulation; and another third providing no stimulation. The simulated or “correct” patterns improved short-term memory by 15 percent and working-memory 25 percent more than no stimulation. The random stimulation decreased performance.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">associate professor of biomedical engineering </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">research Dong Song, who presented the study’s results at </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">the Society of Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC over Veteran’s Day weekend 2017, this represents the first time such a device has been shown to </span><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153034-brain-implant-boosts-human-memory-by-mimicking-how-we-learn/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">improve human cognition</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We are writing the neural code to enhance memory function,” </span><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153034-brain-implant-boosts-human-memory-by-mimicking-how-we-learn/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Song said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “This has never been done before.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The achievement is based collaborative work between researchers at USC and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center to create the brain implant and necessary models and algorithms. It was previously successfully tested on animals prior to human study. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ted Berger, of USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering, has been researching the foundation for the device for decades and helped Song find a way to simulate the process of translating short-term memories to long-term ones—despite the fact that its </span><a href="https://news.usc.edu/86658/new-device-aims-to-help-people-struggling-with-memory-loss/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">content is unreadable from its electrical signal</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Even more challenging, the implant must bypass any damaged areas of the hippocampus and deliver the signal to the next region with the new proper translation. </span></p><p><a href="https://news.usc.edu/86658/new-device-aims-to-help-people-struggling-with-memory-loss/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Berger explains</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, “It’s like being able to translate from Spanish to French without being able to understand either language.”</span></p><p></p><h3><b>Future Applications for Brain Implants</b></h3><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the study provides a wide-ranging potential for future research and practical use, </span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/brain-implant-boosts-memory-first-time-ever-ncna821016"><span style="font-weight: 400;">more research</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and questions require answers before the implants may be used on a wide scale. Most directly, researchers hope the memory-boosting device will be able to assist people with serious </span><a href="http://www.iflscience.com/technology/brain-implant-appears-to-boost-memory-in-humans/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">memory-related diseases</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. The rising number of people suffering from the effects of dementia and Alzheimer’s haunted the United States economy to the tune of </span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/brain-implant-boosts-memory-first-time-ever-ncna821016"><span style="font-weight: 400;">$236 billion in 2016</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, while the physical and emotional toll on the patients and their families grows with the level of cognitive impairment.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“In those disorders, there is a lot of cell death in the hippocampal region,” </span><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153034-brain-implant-boosts-human-memory-by-mimicking-how-we-learn/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Song explained</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. He believes a memory prosthesis can bypass the damaged areas. “That should reinstate and restore cognitive function.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Scientists also see applications for this technology beyond memory loss. Other possible adaptations of brain implants could </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-have-created-brain-implants-that-could-boost-our-memory-by-up-to-30-2017-11"><span style="font-weight: 400;">improve vision or movement</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, according to the researchers who are working on those possibilities.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The approach is very general,” </span><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153034-brain-implant-boosts-human-memory-by-mimicking-how-we-learn/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Song said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “If you can improve the input/output of one brain region, you could apply it to other brain regions.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Skills that are </span><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153034-brain-implant-boosts-human-memory-by-mimicking-how-we-learn/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">localized to certain parts of the brain</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are good candidates for this type of brain boosting implant. But broad, cognitive functions such as intelligence are too complex for this technique and require too many regions of the brain working together. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even beyond repairing damaged areas of the brain, </span><a href="https://sciencetrends.com/brain-implant-successfully-boosts-memory-first-time-ever/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">brain augmentation and enhancement</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is entering a new phase of the technological industry. Bryan Johnson, owner of the brain-augmentation based startup Kernel, thinks people will be able to substantially enhance their brain’s own natural abilities within the next 15 years.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In another creative application, Song’s research team is studying whether they can use the device to </span><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153034-brain-implant-boosts-human-memory-by-mimicking-how-we-learn/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">create false memories</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“For example, if we show a picture of a dog, is there a pattern associated with the dog that we can use to create a false memory of the dog?” </span><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153034-brain-implant-boosts-human-memory-by-mimicking-how-we-learn/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Song explained</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “We’ve started working on that.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">From planting false memories to enhancing people’s own natural cognitive abilities, many researchers and </span><a href="https://sciencetrends.com/brain-implant-successfully-boosts-memory-first-time-ever/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ethicists have raised concerns</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> about using this type of technology. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Neuroscientist Rafael Yuste and bioethicist Sara Goering lead a team of researchers calling for a system of oversight, ethical guidelines, and regulation over technology used to enhance human abilities. Their concerns include possible loss of autonomy and privacy, potential for criminal hacking, and how access to this type of technology could exacerbate inequality. </span></p><p><a href="https://sciencetrends.com/brain-implant-successfully-boosts-memory-first-time-ever/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yuste</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, director of the Neurotechnology Center at Colombia University, said: “We just want to ensure that this new technology which is so exciting, and which could revolutionize our lives, is used for the good of humankind.” </span></p>
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