z-bo 2020-11-05 370

　　Transplanting memories is a common plot in science fiction movies. Now the dream of memory transplantation has finally come true for the first time, and conscious memories have been transplanted into the minds of sleeping mice.

　　This is the first time in human history that conscious memory has been transplanted into the brain of a sleeping mouse. One day, this technology can change human memory, just like the movies "Inception" and "Total Memory".

　　When humans and animals fall asleep, the brain usually replays the activities during the day, which can strengthen memory and learn new skills. Scientists have discovered that when rodents’ playback is disrupted, they cannot remember what they have learned, such as exploring a new area.

　　Scientists from the Institute of Higher Education of Physical and Chemical Industry in Paris, France, used the replay process to create new memories in the brains of sleeping mice. Team leader Karim Benchenane's research direction is "location cells", which are perception neurons that are located in specific areas and related to thinking, helping animals and humans to form internal maps in the brain.

　　When animals and humans sleep, the brain often replays daytime activities, which can strengthen memory and learn new skills. Scientists used this playback process to create new memories in the brains of sleeping mice, and claimed that this technology could be used in humans in the future.

　　Scientists successfully implanted memories in mice

　　When the mice are exploring the "Arena", scientists use electrodes to monitor active brain cells and isolate specific brain cells corresponding to the arena. When the mice were asleep, they monitored the creative activity of the brain and used electrodes to stimulate the playback-related areas of the brain when specific cells were firing. When the mice woke up, they immediately located a location related to the playback sensation, showing that scientists have implanted new pleasant memories in the brain.

　　This is the first realization of conscious memory transplantation. Experts have begun preparations to implant the subconscious into the human brain, for example, to make smokers feel like a rotten egg.

　　Experts believe that subconscious learning has been strengthened when mice are sleeping. They should have randomly explored new places, but now they go straight to the place where the brain once played back during sleep. The mice developed goal-oriented behaviors and went straight to the place where the brain had been played back, indicating that this was not an unconscious behavior. We associated the selected location with the playback and consciously stored it in the mouse brain.

　　Dr. Benchenane believes that this technology can be used to transplant different types of memories in a few years, such as learning skills, or to erase people's traumatic memories. He believes that positive thinking can overwrite negative memories, thereby stopping nightmares or indulging in restlessness. If you can locate areas of the brain that are associated with phobias, then you might create a positive association.