Brain Prosthetics: A Chip to Restore Your Memory
Join IEEE’s Spectrum’s Eliza Strickland in a riveting discussion with maverick biomedical engineer and neuroscientist, Dr. Ted Berger. Over two decades, Berger worked to crack the electrical code associated with the brain’s formation of memories. By electronically recording input and predicting output signals, Berger electronically replicated these signals to create “synthetic memory” in mice and primates with long-term memory damage. Today, with US funding to develop the world’s first chip-based memory prosthetic, Berger’s team is moving to human trial with a mission of restoring memory to people suffering from traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s, dementia and more.
Dr Ted Berger, Director, Center for Neural Engineering
Dr. Theodore W. Berger, a professor of biomedical engineering and neuroscience, directs the Center for Neural Engineering at the University of Southern California. His research focuses on the hippocampus, a brain region essential for learning and memory. He uses an integrated experimental and theoretical approach to develop biologically realistic models of the hippocampus, and to study its mechanism of forming new memories. He’s currently working to create a “memory prosthetic” in the form of a chip that would be implanted in the hippocampus. This chip could do the work of memory formation in lieu of failing brain cells. His work could benefit people with traumatic brain injuries, Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other types of memory problems. Dr. Berger is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Eliza Strickland, Sr Assoc Editor, IEEE Spectrum Magazine
Eliza Strickland is an editor for the international technology magazine IEEE Spectrum, where she covers biomedical engineering. Her current passion is reporting on brain hacking: the neural modulation techniques used to tweak people’s movements, moods, and memories.