According to the latest research of scientists, human memory can be uploaded and stored like data in PC. But it can't be done yet. In the coming decades, the common development of neuroscience, computer and artificial intelligence will continue to reduce the gap between human brain and computer technology. In the future, our memories will be stored and extracted in specific ways.
Currently, Obama's $1 billion funding for 'brain mapping' and the EU's $1.3 billion investment in building human brains in silicon will undoubtedly help speed up the process. But before we can actually upload brain data, neuroscientists say they need to first locate where and how memories are stored.
Ted Berger, a USC neuroscientist, said: 'we've started to explore ways to replicate brain properties, and we've also started to work on how to replicate specific areas of the brain. Berger and his team are working on how to insert memories into the brains of mice by stimulating the hippocampus with electrical signals.
"We found that there are corresponding patterns of activity in time and space for specific objects," Berger said. "For example, when animals need to remember apples rather than bananas, there will be differences in brain activity between the two. '
At the same time, Berger said, they have been able to stop hippocampal activity to block memory and then generate 'new' memories through electrical stimulation. This has worked in mice and monkeys, and they believe it will work in humans as well.
Another group at MIT, ed Boyden's team of synthetic neurosciences, is working on new tools that can explore the brain.
In recent years, they have discovered an algal protein that converts light into electricity. If the protein is implanted in neurons, the latter can trigger its activity by light. Thus, the activity of neurons can be expressed in the form of electrical pulses and then encoded into memory codes that can be recognized by computers.
At the same time, Boyden hopes to develop a switch that can control the activity of brain cells to help patients with brain disorders.
USC's Berger says the biggest obstacle to copying and uploading memories is that they look like they're gone when they're not called.
"This is very different from the way data chips work. The data in the chips is always there. 'he said,' but the human or animal brain is not. Our memories can only be felt when we call them, but when we don't call them, we can't perceive their activities for the time being. '