Scientists (possibly mad) have developed a way to plug memory chips into the brains of rats, improving their memory creation and storage abilities with the potential to adapt this technology for human beings.
Remember that old Keanu Reeves film Johnny Mnemonic? No?
Yeah I don’t remember much of it either, however, I do remember he had some form of mass storage device in his head besides his brain. Upload information, download information.
Or to quote another better known Reeves film The Matrix – “I know Kung Fu?!”
This technology is now not that far away as scientists have created a chip that allows rats to instantly know things. Pretty incredible, right?
After studying the chemical interactions that allow short-term learning and memorisation in rats, a group of scientists led by Dr. Theodore Berger, from the University of South California’s Viterbi School of Engineering, have built a prosthetic chip that uses electrodes to enhance and expand their memory abilities.
The chip is capable of storing neural signals, basically functioning as an electronic memory, allowing rats to learn more and keep it in the devices.
Dr Berger’s description tries not to be creepy or frightening but…”Flip the switch on, and the rats remember. Flip it off, and the rats forget…these integrated experimental modeling studies show for the first time that with sufficient information about the neural coding of memories, a neural prosthesis capable of real-time identification and manipulation of the encoding process can restore and even enhance cognitive mnemonic processes.”
The team’s experiments could lead to the development of devices that may help people affected by Alzheimer’s disease, stroke or other brain injuries. They are already trying to advance to the next phase by reproducing the same result in monkeys.
Although there is tremendous potential in medical applications, spare a thought for the humble pub quiz which will surely be cast by the wayside in this next technological leap.
