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FAQ. Can I supercharge
my memory?
WHY CAN’T I
REMEMBER WHAT I
DID 5 SECONDS AGO? UPERHUMAN memory has a special appeal.
Who could resist the idea of remembering
Severything they wanted to, without trying?
Learning would be made easy, exams a breeze
and you would never forget where you left
your keys. Oh and memory-related disorders FLORE-AEL SURUN/TENDANCE FLOUE
like Alzheimer’s would have met their match.
Hang, on – you just left the house, So it is of little surprise that scientists have
but did you lock the door? When it turned their attention to ways of enhancing
comes to these habitual behaviours, human memory using techniques that
your body knows what to do without stimulate, supplement or even mimic parts 30 per cent. A similar technique might even
the need for conscious thought. of the brain. The immediate goal is to treat be used to implant memories directly, which
The brain no longer encodes the memory disorders, but the idea of a memory could also help those with Alzheimer’s disease.
details of a repeated behaviour, so prosthesis for everyday life is gaining ground. Techniques like these involve invasive
while you remember how to lock the “We’re at the point now where on the one surgery, so have been reserved for people with
door, there’s no specific memory of hand it’s very exciting, but on the other it’s neurological disorders for whom the benefits
when you last did it. controversial because we are not only treating might outweigh the risks. But many of those
This ability to autopilot can be disorders, we’re trying to enhance mental behind the research envision a time when any
beneficial, freeing up attention for functions,” says Michal Kucewicz at the of us could be walking around with implants
more important things. The danger Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. quietly boosting our brain function.
comes when this “habit memory” One approach is deep brain stimulation The projects are backed by big names
takes over when it isn’t supposed to, (DBS), which involves zapping an affected and big money. The US Defense Advanced
which can lead to mistakes like brain area with an implanted electrode. This Research Projects Agency has been supporting
forgetting to drop a child off and is already used in the treatment of Parkinson’s the epilepsy memory prosthesis project since
leaving them in the car instead. disease and epilepsy, among other conditions.
Yvaine Ye Implanting electrodes in brain regions “ It’s controversial because as well
responsible for memory, such as the
memory boost too. And small studies have as treat disorders, we are trying
hippocampus, seems to offer a short-term
about it. “This is different from just even suggested that DBS might reverse some to enhance mental functions”
knowing about it,” says Mahr. “Having of the damage seen in certain people with
first-hand experience of something Alzheimer’s disease, halting the shrinking
gives us authority, makes us more of the hippocampus and potentially 2013, as part of its Restoring Active Memory
convincing and accurate.” encouraging it to grow bigger. programme, which seeks to help improve
Sending signals that are convincing DBS is still a blunt tool, however. A more- memory in the injured brain.
is a vital part of managing our social advanced approach is to artificially recreate In 2016, entrepreneur Bryan Johnson
relationships and belief systems, he the same electrical activity in the brain that invested $100 million in his company Kernel,
argues. Without this, we would be happens when memories form. One such which seeks to develop brain implants to
unable to justify social entitlements “memory prosthesis” has already been shown boost intelligence. The company started by
and obligations, such as promises, to work in people with memory problems focusing on memory. Since then, Elon Musk
which is often possible only by explicit resulting from epilepsy. The researchers has joined the action. The engineer and
reference to past events. involved taught an algorithm to learn the investor, who heads Tesla and SpaceX, has
Whether memory led to complex pattern of brain activity that occurs when co-founded a venture called Neuralink. He
communication or vice versa is not memories go into long-term storage using wants his brain-machine interfaces to merge
yet known, but what is clear is that far data they collected from the patients’ brains aspects of human and machine intelligence.
from being a mere databank of the as they were learning. They then used One goal is to outsource the hard work of
past, memory is essential for our implanted electrodes to simulate this activity, memory-making, whether to combat disease
present and future. Now that’s worth causing memories to be stored in the brain. or put an end to worries about where we left
remembering. Alison George The implant boosted memory performance by the keys. Jessica Hamzelou
27 October 2018 | NewScientist | 33
