• Question: Do you think it will be possible to change peoples brains... maybe to increase memory space or alter people's thinking?

    Asked by orlamulligan to Adam, Chris, Eleanor, Jessamyn, Sinead on 11 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Eleanor Holmes

      Eleanor Holmes answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      I hope not. I am very squeemish about the idea of messing around with our brains.

      I say we keep our extra memory external and change people’s minds through education and debate!

      But…maybe…!

    • Photo: Christian Wirtz

      Christian Wirtz answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      I don’t think it will ever be possible to just upload memory or knowledge to a brain and if it is, I hope it never gets discovered!
      The idea of simply taking a “Math pill” and then knowing all about algebra is not new but has not been realised and I don’t think it can. There is a good bit of work being done on the nerve-computer interface so we could send signals into a computer just using nerve impulses. But whether that will work the same way the other way round, that we connect to a computer and upload the entire hard-drive to our brain, is something I don’t think is possible.

      Sorry, you’ll still have to study for your exams like everyone else.
      But in a way, nanotechnology is helping you already. Your computer is based on nanotechnology and I’m sure you agree you have an easier time learning than someone 500 years ago who only had a book whereas you have online resources to use. And the media you are exposed to can most certainly change the way you’re thinking, from making you more liberal by watching documentaries to brainwashing you by feeding you false information.
      So in a way it is possible and has been made easier by technology, just not in the way you think/hope. 🙂

    • Photo: Adam Murphy

      Adam Murphy answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      I don’t think it will. Not for a long long time anyway.

      Because, one of the biggest puzzles in the scientific world is how the brain works, it’s still such a mystery that we can’t really go messing around with it. We have no idea what we might do!

      Like, if you increase memory, what do you do to the rest of the brain.
      And too much memory is a bad thing. There are conditions called Hyperthymesia, where a person remembers everything that happened to them. But the brain needs to forget all the things it doesn’t need to remember so people with hyperthymesia also have things like depression.

      So until we know exactly what we’re doing I think we should avoid playing with the brain!

    • Photo: Sinead Cullen

      Sinead Cullen answered on 16 Nov 2013:

      Hi Orla,
      To actually change the shape of peoples brains would not be possible and is something scientists would never attempt as our brains are the way they are for certain reasons so it would not be good to mess with that.
      But did you know you are slightly altering your brain everyday any?
      Every time you make a new memory you make a new connection in your brain, and this is called synaptic plasticity. It is when your brain cells (neurons) signal to each other, and when this signal is repeated, say when you are studying this forms a new connection which then forms a memory. So the essentially the more you study and learn things the more the connections in your brain change anyway.

      Hope this helps 🙂

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