Worried you're forgetting something? A device implanted in the brain could help us remember all of our "to-do's."
How many times have you met someone and then the next time you see them you’ve forgotten his or her name? Sometime in the future this may not be an annoyance, as humans could be leveraging an implant to enhance memory recall.
Just as a neural network makes connections around an enterprise, our brains are activating neurons to produce our memory in the hippocampus, a small region in the medial temporal lobe of the brain that is primarily associated with memory and spatial navigation.
Theodore Berger is a scientist who, with others, is researching the use of technology to create an “artificial hippocampus” based on a mathematical memory code model that converts short-term memories into long-term recall. According to an article in Futurism, if it is possible to reduce the mechanisms of memory formation into a mathematical formula enhanced by software code, we could be on the cusp of a new era in neuromanipulation.
It could be good—like helping the memory challenged folks pluck that important name from the middle of their brains. Or, more seriously, if part of the brain is damaged, recreating the hippocampus to replace the function of this part of the brain. But, as the article notes, it could also be used for implanting false memories.
Are we ready for artificial intelligence inside our heads? Well, it’s a ways off, but sure makes you think!
