Tens of millions of dollars has been used to develop devices to restore the memory-generation capacity of people with traumatic brain injuries.
In an effort to boost your memory, researchers have connected some hardware from the head to the left temporal cortex to monitor the brain and simulate electrical activity.
It seems like vanity overrides forgetfulness.
We asked Houstonians if they would willingly get surgery to implant a prosthetic memory aid.
"How do I know it's going to work? And, I'm very vain, I don't want any apparatus hanging on my head," said one woman. "Since I'm so vain, at least I'd remember how good I looked before I had that thing hanging on my head."
"No. There's some stuff I don't mind forgetting at all. If it was that important, it would be at the forefront of my mind and it'll come back to me later," said one man. "I wouldn't do it because then I couldn't use it as an excuse when my wife tells me 'well, I know you didn't forget'. There's my safety right there. 'I forgot'."
"I don't want to walk around looking crazy, basically," said one young woman. "And if I forget it, it's not really a big deal, you can figure it out over time."
"If my memory got to a point where I felt it was becoming a problem, I might consider it," said another man. "I would consider it because eventually that device that they have external will become smaller and smaller over time because technology will advance."
He’s right.
The next step to make smaller implants, then get FDA approval. They’re currently testing on epileptic patients to monitor seizures.
Reportedly, veterans—military personnel with traumatic brain injuries—will be the first to use the prosthetic. The next group will likely be stroke and Alzheimer’s patients.