MadSci Network: Neuroscience |
You have asked if scientists could watch synaptic action in one brain, as a memory is made, and then electrically stimulate neurons in another brain the same way, to create a "false" memory. Clearly this is not possible with current technology, but I can speculate about the future. I don’t see anything impossible about watching synaptic action as you suggest. It would certainly be a complex job because a memory is not stored in a single neuron. Memories are essentially distributed throughout large areas of the brain – a single memory is not stored in a single location. I also don’t see anything impossible about artificially stimulating neurons within a brain. But if in the future these types of technologies become available, I still don’t think it would be possible to create artificial memories, because everyone’s brain is different. There are billions of neurons in our brains with complex networks of connections between them. I believe that to reproduce a memory from one brain into a second brain, you would need to have the exact same network of connections – and that would be extraordinarily improbable.
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