Memory Implants

Where would we be if our visionaries ceased searching for answers because colleagues, family, or friends branded them “loony”? Many of neuroscientist Theodore Berger’s colleagues dubbed him “just this side of crazy” for believing he could develop an electronic brain implant to help patients with severe memory loss. After spending much of the past 35 years trying to understand the complex workings of the human brain, the success of recent experiments is helping him shed the loony label. Berger, a biomedical engineer and neuroscientist at the University of Southern California, has been studying the behavior of neurons in the hippocampus, a part of the brain known to be involved in memory formation. He has designed silicon chips to mimic the signal processing those neurons do when they’re functioning properly. Berger’s goal is “to improve the quality of life for somebody who has a severe memory deficit.”

Berger and his team of researchers have yet to conduct experiments on humans. Their work with monkeys, rabbits, and rats has gleaned positive results and has been well documented ( For instance, see Science article http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6144/387). Within the next two years Berger and his colleagues hope to implant an actual memory prosthesis in animals, hoping to show that their hippocampal chips can form long-term memories in many different behavioral situations.

One fear Berger and his team share is that the codes they believe represent memories are not generalizable, leaving them to wonder whether they’ve actual cracked the code or merely deciphered a few simple memories.

Moving forward in spite of the uncertainties, Berger and his colleagues are planning human studies. “I never thought I’d see this go into humans, and now our discussions are about when and how, “says Berger. “I never thought I’d live to see the day, but now I think I will.” According to the Alzheimer’s Association website, more than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease today and as many as a half million Americans under the age of 65 have dementia or cognitive impairment. Then there are those whose brains have suffered damage from stroke or injury. Berger’s memory implant technology would certainly be a major breakthrough in medical research, giving new hope to those suffering with memory deficiency.

Read more about Berger and his work in http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513681/memory-implants/