With so many brilliant minds (from Elon Musk to the US Department of Defense) exploring the possibilities of brain implants, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before such devices are ready to help humans expand our natural capabilities. .
Now, a professor at the University of Southern California (USA), Dong Song, has demonstrated the use of a brain implant to improve human memory, which could have important implications for the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s ( which can be as deadly as cancer).
Innovative memory prosthesis
His results on a “memory prosthesis” during a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington DC, present it as the first to be effective in improving human memory.
To test his device, Song’s team involved 20 volunteers with implanted brain electrodes for the treatment of epilepsy. Once implanted in the participants, the device collected data on their brain activity during tests designed to stimulate short-term memory or working memory.
After that, the scientists determined the pattern associated with optimal memory performance and used the device’s electrodes to stimulate the brain following that pattern in subsequent tests.
Thus, stimulation improved short-term memory by approximately 15% and working memory by 25%. When the researchers randomly stimulated the brain, brain performance worsened.
Alzheimer’s, a growing problem
In light of the results, this new device could completely transform the lives of people affected by dementia and Alzheimer’s (in which age is the greatest risk factor, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, with the vast majority of patients being older than 65 years).
Considering the great number of advances and that we are living longer and longer thanks also to better health care, this segment of the population is growing dramatically, which, in turn, makes them potential patients with dementia, something that With this continued growth in seniors, it can be tremendously costly both financially and emotionally. And it is that, the more serious the cognitive deterioration of a person, the higher the depression rates of their family caregivers.
Experts say more tests are needed before Dong Song’s device can be approved as a treatment for dementia or Alzheimer’s disease , but it can help those patients regain even some of their lost memory function. , the impact would be tremendously positive, not only on the patients themselves, but also on their families.
Reference: Dong Song Research Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering. University of Southern California. Brain implant boosts human memory by mimicking how we learn New Scientist 2017
