Scientists develop a brain implant that improves memory and recall capacity

Scientists have developed a brain implant that during a test run was able to boost the memory of patients. The findings during the trial could actually revolutionise medical treatments for various brain-related problems such as dementia and head injuries.

The details about the findings were first published in Nature Communication journal on Tuesday. As per the report that was published in the journal the device works like a pacemaker that sends electrical pulses to aid the brain when it finds hard to store new information, but at the same time, it remains quiet when it finds that the brain is functioning normally.

The study also revealed that the device improved the word recalling ability of the brain by up to 15 percent.  The percentage is significant as it is reportedly equal to the amount of capacity that is lost by a person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease over a period of two and a half years.

While doctors have used similar implants for years to treat patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy, it is for the first time that such unique findings have been made.

“The exciting thing about this is that, if it can be replicated and extended, then we can use the same method to figure out what features of brain activity predict good performance,” said Bradley Voytek, an assistant professor of cognitive and data science at the University of California, San Diego who was quoted in a report by The New York Times.

While the research team was led by scientists from the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson University, the work in the field has been supported for a long time by the US Department of Defense.

However, it is still in its initial stages and commercial use of the product is still far away. Further, the risk of the technology being misused as memory booster is also a serious concern.