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Implanting A Chip In The Brain To Help Memory


Noire

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Neuroscientists are well on their way to creating a computer chip that can be implanted in the brain.  This would aid people who have had brain damage from a stroke or accident.  Although it is still in the future, the scientists believe it could well be developed in 10 years.  It sounds like something out of science fiction but there are actually people who have computer chips in their brains today.  These chips stimulate the brain to help people with Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.

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Neuroscientists are well on their way to creating a computer chip that can be implanted in the brain.

They’re more than well on their way – about 80000 people in the past 15 years have had brain implants to treat epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.

 

Brain stimulating implants like the ones described in the linked article are cool, and both medically proven and promising. I’m more intrigued, though, by devices that can both stimulate – “write” – and “read” brain and other nerve activity. Though progress on them has been halting, here are some links to articles, spanning nearly 20 years, I found interesting:

1994 "chronic" (meaning permanent) neural interface chip

2001 Snail nerve cells made to grow into a silicon chip

2011 Mouse nerve cells made to grow into silicon-germanium tubes

2012 a "nerve chip" transistor that switches in response to acetylcholine ions

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I think research such as this is extremely encouraging. It opens up the possibility that one day (perhaps in the not too distant future) there may be help for those who are developing dementia. In the meantime, it is a subject I would watch closely.

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  • 1 month later...

I think I'll keep a close eye on this, however as pro-tech as I am I'm not sure if I'm ready to make the leap into implants.

I found nootropics helpful in increasing my memory and overall cognitive function, and thankfully I can just take them in
capsules versus having some chip injected/implanted/drilled into my head for the possibility of increasing my memory.

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  • 3 months later...

As far as i know, brain activity is electrical, so will have to have an electrical chip there. of course, that means it might get faulty, or think of the mess from cutting the skull open? really to have scars like those!

 

So, i suggest that to remember things better, we need to just think of them often. this is like studying them, repeating the process over and over makes more impulses to be drawn from. i mean, if you enter a lottery more than once, you have a better chance.

 

Now, to remember things with perfect clarity, we need to open the impulses to these things we want to remember. what i am suggesting is that we can remember things better if we were to associate them with a picture, like flash cards. this is typically used for young children, but might work on adults too.

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As far as i know, brain activity is electrical, so will have to have an electrical chip there. of course, that means it might get faulty, or think of the mess from cutting the skull open? really to have scars like those!

 

So, i suggest that to remember things better, we need to just think of them often. this is like studying them, repeating the process over and over makes more impulses to be drawn from. i mean, if you enter a lottery more than once, you have a better chance.

The OP specifically discusses using the chips to help people who have suffered strokes or physical brain damage. Using your technique will do little for such people. A few scars that will likely be covered by hair is a small proce to pay for the benefits that would be obtained.

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