Transfer of thought with chip

Scientists from the University of Southern California were able to produce artificial memory system that allows the transfer of thought, memory and learned behavior from one brain to another. It sounds like science fiction.

"Johnny Mnemonik" appearance becomes reality? From the sci-fi thriller, until now, there were some things that science is the end of the last millennium, only dreamed about. For example, today a monkey whose brain associated with mechanical arm could not move the arm like his. Severely disabled can drive a wheelchair with their brain waves. But scientists have long trying to find a way to implant in the human brain and memory. This could help people who have lost their memory after the accident, or suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists at the University of Southern California professor, led by Theodore Berger, in cooperation with the university, "Wake Forest", published a sensational study in the "Journal of neuro engineering". A microchip embedded in the brains of rats can assume the role of the hippocampus - a brain the sector responsible for long-term memory - the encoding of the pattern of brain waves of memory and sends those waves through the brain.

Berger and his team taught rats to press one of two levers to get a drink of water. Then in the brains of rats whose microchip installed cables were connected with the hippocampus. The chip is made ​​of electrical wave pattern two segments of the hippocampus, CA1 and CA3 that are working together in the learning process. They then disabled the C1 segment and replace it by a chip that is able to produce proper electrical waves. Rats with such a chip and blocked C1 segment still had memories. A in rats with an installed chip and is not blocked C1 segment, extend the duration of memory. The next step will be an identical experiment with monkeys and then.