Transplanted memories and mind-controlled wheelchairs are real – now implants are on the horizon that will repair brain damage and maybe even patch dementia
SAM DEADWYLER's work sounded a little too much like something from The Matrix – and that was a big problem. In the same way that Neo downloads a kung fu master's skills, Deadwyler had wired up the brain of a rat with electronics that transplanted memories derived from 30 rats into its brain, allowing it to draw on training that it had never personally experienced. The study had the potential to be a landmark finding – but "everyone thought it was science fiction", he says. "I thought, 'no one's going to believe this unless I do a hundred control experiments'."
So he did just that. Last December – 10 years after the original experiment – the ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.
