Implantable “memory prosthetic” opens new horizons for cyborg future
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/234619-implantable-memory-prosthetic-opens-new-horizons-for-cyborg-future
Well, this seems a little too Deus Ex to be true, but here you go.
Well, this seems a little too Deus Ex to be true, but here you go.
Comments
Just my thoughts. I do like the idea of a brain implant, I just think it'll be too far away to wait. I'd rather have another solution (like my above one) for the meantime.
First of all, from the sound of it this isn't any "increased storage". It's allowing e convertion of working memory into long term memory. For those more tech savvy that's the equivalent of putting what is in RAM into hard disk, or saving a document that has been typed. If your short term / working memory isn't great in the first place, this is not going to help. This is not going to stop forgetting either, since we're not changing the storage at all (which is eventually a more even distribution on the whole brain pretty much, which is why I was curious as to see what they actually do).
Secondly, from the sound of it this is at best only going to be as good as a normal healthy brain can do in terms of converting short term memory into long term memory, since the device is based on a mathematical model (which by itself is a simplification) of what normal hippocampus does. I'll be interest to see how well this goes when this goes on trial, but I'm not going to get my hopes up in terms of gaining a "super memory" or something.
Simulated neural activity calculated in software to design a chip-- is an interesting concept... but only a concept. On the surface there is nothing real about this besides an idea and the beginnings of a plan.
Also, key thing is risks vs benefits. This is designed literally for Alzheimer's and other dementias where there's degeneration of the hippocampus, so it can be argued that the potential reversal of the extremely debilitating effects is worth the risks of neurosurgery.