3 Implications of Memory-Boosting Devices Ben Thomas wrote for Discover Magazine about the socio-tec
3 Implications of Memory-Boosting Devices Ben Thomas wrote for Discover Magazine about the socio-technological implications of memory-boosting devices: In fall, DARPA announced a major success in its Restoring Active Memory (RAM) program. Researchers implanted targeted electrical arrays in the brains of a few dozen volunteers — specifically in brain areas involved in memory. The researchers found a way to read out neural “key codes” associated with specific memories, and then fed those codes back into the volunteers’ brains as they tried to recall lists of items or directions to places. While the results are still preliminary, DARPA claims that the RAM technique has already achieved “promising results” in improving memory retrieval. Intriguing as this implant is, it’s only the latest in an ongoing series of neurological techniques and gizmos designed to boost and sharpen memory. The effects and implications of these systems raise questions that are worth consideration. Worth a read. By this way: You should check out The Machine by James Smythe. A fantastic & powerful near scifi story about Beth and Vic, who returned from war tormented by his nightmares.“His once happy marriage to Beth all but disintegrated. A machine promised salvation, purging him of all memory. Now the machines are gone, declared too controversial, the side-effects too harmful. But within Beth’s flat is an ever-whirring black box. She knows that memories can be put back and that she can rebuild her husband piece by piece. ” Definitely worth a read. One of my favorites in 2015. [read more] -- source link
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