daveblake.co.uk

Would you like to be able to view your first kiss on a tv screen, email your best mates exactly what happened the other night? How about backup what you did the other day - just in case you forget it.

I am currently about halfway through reading a book where one of the characters suggests that he would like to “download his brain into his computer”.  Great idea I thought, but what are the possibilities of you and me being able to do this one day?

First I decided to look at how the brain stores memories. I deal mainly with computers so I am familiar with storing data as binary. Binary works well for computers because each 1 or 0 can refer to a switch being either ON or OFF. 

For example, if we need to store text in a computer we use a standard called ASCII. In ASCII each letter and symbol is represented by a binary number.

01000100 = D
01000001 = A
01010110 = V
01000101 = E

Each letter is stored as a series of eight switches, either set to 1 or 0. Each of these switches is called a bit and a series of eight bits called a byte. One byte can store any combination of 1s and 0s, starting from 00000000 to 11111111. This leaves a total number of combinations of 2⁸ or 256, plenty of space for most character sets. The brain is a lot more complex and therefore a lot more confusing.

Nobody understands exactly how memories are stored in the brain. Memory recall has produced a lot of theories, all created by very intelligent people but no one really knows exactly how it all works. Neuroscientists, the guys who are experts on the brain, have identified key regions of the brain used to store memories, they have also identified different molecular and chemical changes that take place when memories are being created and recalled. Whereas information in a computer can be duplicated from one location to another it seems unlikely that the brain works in the same way.

There are generally three classifications for memories:

1. Immediate storage: This stores information from your senses (Sight and sound etc…). Immediate storage is accessed briefly by the brain and processed but the information is never needed for any length of time.
2. Short Term Memory: What did you eat yesterday? You can remember it now (hopefully), but will you still remember this time next year.
3. Long Term Memory: These are the memories that matter. This can be split into different types once again.
• Procedural: Simply defined as how to do things. Eg. How to ride a bike, how to get dressed etc…
• Declarative: Probably what most people would associate with the idea of memory. Declarative memories are fact or experience based. Knowledge is considered to be a declarative memory, as is what you did on holiday last year.

With today’s level of technology and current understanding of neuroscience, it is pretty clear that at the moment it’s impossible to read memories from the brain. To compare the way that computers store information to the way the brain stores memories just isn’t possible. Memories are definitely stored somewhere - and if we could somehow understand how the brain accesses them could we not duplicate this with technology?

Declarative long term memories are probably the memories that everyone would like to be able to store. Imagine a world where you could download the memories of your last holiday to a computer then watch them back or share them with your friends. No more cameras, no more camcorders - all you need to take on holiday is yourself. You could relive your favourite days of your life exactly as they happened.

How great could it be if the process was reversed to - inserting memories, or more usefully, knowledge. Today I need to understand quantum physics so I hook up to my laptop click a few buttons and it’s in my head. All those years wasted at school would no longer be necessary. With a regular backup of your memories you could guard against amnesia, what a break through for medical science.

Could memory retrieval be used to fight crime? How great for the police, you could just download a suspect’s memory of a particular night - no more need for an alibi. The problem is that memories change over time. It is also possible for people who know what they’re doing to place memories in your head as anyone who’s ever seen Derren Brown will testify. For these reasons you could never convict someone of a crime based purely on their memories.

At the moment it is not possible to download your brain to a computer - one day it might be. Would you even want this technology? In many ways the possibilities for abuse are scary. Personally I feel that even though it would be great to be able to do all of the above - my memories and thoughts are private. A last refuge from the digital world where you can never be one hundred percent sure some organisation isn’t tapping into your every breath. Let’s leave memories in our heads where they belong, for now at least.

 

If anybody is interested in the book you can get it from Amazon by clicking on the cover below. A word of warning, it only mentions the subject of “brain downloading” as a passing comment.

Before I sign off, if anyone reads this and it inspires them to create the technology then please remember me when you make your millions.

That’s all

Dave

Bookmark To:

digg! | reddit | del.icio.us | Stumble Upon | furl | rojo | yahoo!

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 21st, 2007 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Bits 'n Bobs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.