Memory problems are one of the most common symptoms of traumatic brain injury. For some, it is simple losses, like walking into a room and forgetting why, or a persistent habit of losing one’s car keys. For others with more severe injuries, it can be problems creating new memories, or even wiping out old ones entirely.
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The U.S. military has begun trials that seek to help bridge memory gaps in TBI patients. In late October, two teams demonstrated that a “neuroprosthetic” implant capable of mimicking the electrical patterns responsible for memory creation and storage could restore the brain’s capability to remember. The implications are vast for not only TBI patients, but also stroke victims – and even people who have lost memory functions due to aging.
How the Neuroprosthetic Works
To create short-term memories, a signal moves from one part (CA3) of the brain’s memory center, the hippocampus, to another (CA1). In people with damaged hippocampuses, this signal is impaired, but the neuroprosthetic can make up for deficiencies in the brain’s network of signals and imitate the necessary signal, allowing short-term memories to be encoded into long-term memories.
The device has been tested on both monkeys and humans with positive results. Researchers caution, though, that the technology might not be enough for TBI victims with severely damaged hippocampuses, not to mention the dangers involved with placing electrodes within the brain. Still, the results are encouraging and will hopefully lead to greater understanding of TBI-related memory loss and new avenues of treatment for victims.
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