Is restoring memory likely harder than augmenting it?

Talk about scientific and technological developments in the future
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Maximum7
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Is restoring memory likely harder than augmenting it?

Post by Maximum7 »

I am very interested in the science of neural implants for improving memory. I already have an excellent memory but would always like to improve it further. However it occurs to me that there is a difference between augmenting existing memory retention and storage AND restoring lost memories due to neurodegenerative conditions or “forgetting”. I was reading an article where DARPA is trying to develop Neural RAMplants to restore active memory. The article seemed to imply that reviving memories would potentially be harder than just improving memory going forward. I know this technology is barely in infancy, but theoretically is this true?
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erowind
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Re: Is restoring memory likely harder than augmenting it?

Post by erowind »

I don't know if anyone here has the neuroscience background to give an informed answer. My intuition sides with the idea presented as with improving memory going forward there are known variables to work with whereas recall of lost memories requires reigniting pathways and thoughts that person may not even know they have to recall to remember.

For example. When I'm feeling nostalgic for early childhood I can't just remember a lot of things from then on the spot. I need to look at objects from the time and ponder on them asking my mum about memories and visit old places I used to go like one of my first public parks. When I do those things though those memories come flooding back and themselves often remind of other memories even farther down the tree of recall. As in. Look at old toy ---> remember playing with old toy at park ---> go to park ---> climb old jungle gym ---> remember looking at lighting bugs from jungle gym ---> remember catching lighting bugs with friends ---> recall hanging out with those friends ---> recall obscure deep memory of one friend doing this weird thing when he was 3 where he would roll everywhere instead of walk even though he could walk ---> recall playing with him at pet store at a mall that doesn't exist anymore ---> etc.

The path there could go on a long long time. If you want to remember things it's important to refresh the pathways for those things every once and a while or they will atrophy to the point that it becomes almost impossible to remember them.
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Yuli Ban
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Re: Is restoring memory likely harder than augmenting it?

Post by Yuli Ban »

Probably not. From anecdotal evidence I've heard, we actually store just about every memory we make; we just can't recall 99% of it lest we get recursive information overload.
Restoring memory is no harder than simply toggling the part of the brain that remembers it. We just don't know how to do that barring brain injury, but brain injuries run the risk of genuine memory deletion.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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BaobabScion
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Re: Is restoring memory likely harder than augmenting it?

Post by BaobabScion »

Yuli is pretty close to what is currently thought to be the case. What people ascribe to memory loss is usually better thought of as just a diminishment of memory retrieval capability. In many cases, those early memories are still somewhere in your mind; they're just hidden, latent. And since memory retrieval capability diminishes due to aging, it is thought that rejuvenation of the brain might lead to an increase in memory retrieval capability, thus causing the return of those memories.

However, there is a limit to rejuvenation as this is a Universe ruled by entropy, and some memories truly do fade away. Perhaps, that's for the best.
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Yuli Ban
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Re: Is restoring memory likely harder than augmenting it?

Post by Yuli Ban »

To put into perspective just how much I mean "we store every memory we make"

Meet the people who can remember every single day of their lives
HSAM - or hyperthymesia, as it's also known - is characterised by the ability to remember almost every day of your life after the age of 10 or 11 years old, down to the most minute detail.

When given any past date, people with HSAM can usually recall things like what colour dress they were wearing, or even what the weather was like. It's unknown whether people are born with HSAM or develop the ability in their early years. So far, 61 people in the world have been identified as having HSAM, including 56 in America and five in the UK.

I asked Joey DeGrandis, a 30-year-old New Yorker with HSAM, to recall what he did on July 9, 1995. He answered down the phone without hesitation: "July 9, 1995 - it was a Sunday - I was in Chicago with my family for vacation and I believe we went to Shedd Aquarium that day. Another random memory: I remember watching I Love Lucy a few days later at my friend James's house on Tuesday, July 11; it was an episode where Lucy and Ethel were crying at the end... but it was 'funny' crying."

So was there anything really different about these people's brains, which could back up Mazzoni's observations? Astoundingly, no. Mazzoni found no real difference in the structure of the brain. The difference was found not in the structure but in the order of how the brain works, in the areas of the brain that kick in first, second, and so on.
Presumably, this is possible with anyone. But hyperthymesia is a disorder for a reason. It would be more useful in a post-scarcity society, and I'd certainly like to have it if I didn't have to work and could persist in synthetic media and nostalgia all day.
But it's true: you have a tape recorder-like memory of just about everything you've ever experienced since you were a child. You're just not allowed to consciously access it.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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