from Gizmondo:
Researchers have discovered that increasing production of a protein called RGS-14 could significantly boost visual memory.
Mice with the RGS-14 boost could remember objects they had seen for up to two months. Ordinarily the same mice would only be able to remember these objects for about an hour.
from io9:
10 subjects were shown three film clips multiple times, then asked to remember them while inside the fMRI scanner. It turned out to be relatively easy to trace the neurological pathway between viewing something and putting the memory into short-term storage in the hippocampus.
Above you can see a “heat map” of which parts of the hippocampus are active as memories get stored. Using specialized software, the researchers could detect and decode each memory.
from Telegraph.uk:
Telepathy has taken a step closer to reality after British scientists developed a computer that can read your thoughts.
The system is able to decipher thought patterns and tell what people are thinking simply by scanning the brain.The breakthrough is a step forward because it can delve into people’s memories and differentiate between different recollections.
from NYTimes:
The concept was simple: using digital pictures and audio to archive an experience like a weekend visit from the grandchildren, creating a summary of the resulting content by picking crucial images, and reviewing them periodically to awaken and strengthen the memory of the event.
The hardware is a little black box called the Sensecam, which contains a digital camera and an accelerometer to measure movement. Worn like a pendant around the neck, it was developed at Microsoft’s research lab in Cambridge, England.
from h+ Magazine:
Data captured by the PMD would be linked over the internet into distributed software services like GPS, Google Maps, facial recognition, speech/text recognition, brainwave analysis and so on.
Would the PMD remember where you parked? Always.
Will it warn you when you are about to walk away and leave your hat and sunglasses on the bench behind you? Totally.
Will it send you birthday reminders, schedule your meetings, remind you to pick up your dry-cleaning and let you program your DVR with voice commands? Yes.
Will it find your car keys and remote control for you? Maybe.
Will it record your innermost thoughts? Probably not.
It won’t always be perfect, but it will greatly extend your normal range of memory, and over time it will become like an indispensable part of your brain.
from h+ Magazine:
This September Bell and Gemmell released a book called Total Recall: How the E-Memory Revolution Will Change Everything. In it, they talk about the future implications of being able to remember everything about your life in extraordinary detail.
Bell proposes that a “continuous digital diary or e-memory” that integrates digital recording devices, memory storage and search engines will fundamentally “change what it means to be human.”
Their work includes research into memory, work, health, learning, and immortality.
[…] Here are some scenarios that point to a fundamental shift in healthcare coming in the near future:
- Self-Organized Clinical Trials
- Streaming, Ubiquitous Biosensors
- Analytics for Your Health
Also from h+: Open Source Medicine as the Next Insanely Great Thing
•||•• Edge of Tomorrow ••|||••• 