INDIVIDUAL PROJECT: Memory Implants

DARLA BAUTISTA 2013-14467

INFOGRAPHIC IN FULL RESOLUTION (click image to zoom in):
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1uvNAt8n7mZcUV1dGlZanR3clk/edit?usp=drive_web

INFOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTION:

This infographic aims to foster awareness on two recent advancements in neuroprosthetics, a discipline that focuses on creating devices for missing or damaged parts of the nervous system. The infographic is divided into 3 parts- the definition of memory, brain implants, and memory manipulation.

When we say “memory,” we usually refer to  1) our mental ability to keep and recall information, or 2) the past experiences which we remember. However, according to Theodore Berger, a neuroscientist, a “memory” is also a group of electrical signals produced by neurons on a given period of time.

The actions and characteristics of electrical signals can be observed and studied. Research on these electrical signals that trigger recollections of the past have led to developments in neuroscience- brain implants and memory manipulation.

For the brain implants section, I discussed the development of silicon chips that serve as a treatment for brains that can’t recall long-term memories anymore because their neurons have been damaged from injuries or diseases.

In 2013, Theodore Berger and his team created those silicon chips. First, they studied how the neuron signals travelled in rats’ brains. The hippocampus is the part of the brain where short term memories become long term. They sent electrical signals to parts of the hippocampus , and studied how those signals moved and transformed. Then they embodied those actions in mathematical models, which were put in computer chips. 

Afterwards, they tested the silicon chips. They studied the chips’ action in slices of rats’ hippocampus . With electrodes, they carried neuronal signals to the silicon chip. The silicon chip successfully copied the action of undamaged neurons in transforming the electrical signals.  They also tested the silicon chips in live rats.  In a lever test, a rat picked the correct lever but forgot it when it was drugged. The rat was pulsed with the mathematical code, so it remembered the correct lever.

The future for these memory devices should include further research on its capability to generate long-term memories in various situations, implantation in human volunteers,  and availability to patients.

For the memory manipulation section,  I discussed the news that MIT implanted false memories in mice brains. Researchers put a mouse in a peaceful environment (Area 1) and its hippocampus  created and kept memories.  Then they moved it to another area (Area 2), where its feet were electrically shocked. During this time also, scientists used optogenetics to make the mouse recall Area 1, while it was in Area 2. Then the mouse was brought back to Area 1. It felt fear because it confused its memories of Area 2 and Area 1. The mouse thought that it would be electrically shocked in Area 1 as well.

The mechanism behind this memory manipulation is optogenetics. Optogenetics refers to when cells are manipulated to be sensitive to light.  The mouse’s brain cells became sensitive to light because of a virus. The scientists then struck the mouse cells with light from a laser when it was put in Area 2, so that it would remember Area 1. 

REFERENCES:

Cohen, Jon, 2013.  Memory Implants. MIT Technology Review. http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513681/memory-implants/. January 6, 2014.

Acey, Madeleine, 2013. Brain implants: Restoring memory with a microchip. CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/07/tech/brain-memory-implants-humans/. January 20, 2014.

Anthony, Sebastian, 2013. MIT successfully implants false memories, may explain why we remember things that didn’t happen. ExtremeTech. http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/162364-mit-successfully-implants-false-memories-may-teach-us-how-human-brains-form-false-memories. February 20, 2014.

Anthony, Sebastian, 2012. MIT discovers the location of memories: Individual neurons. ExtremeTech. http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/123485-mit-discovers-the-location-of-memories-individual-neurons. February 20, 2014.