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Can Memories Be Implanted or Created?

Author: Alex Yang

Editors: Linzi Yeung, Justin Tai

Artist: Caitland So


One of the most imposing features of the human mind is memory. It molds everything from personality to deep-seated fears, and even affects every-day choices. Considering how prominent memory is in our lives, the idea of erasing or implanting them has been a staple of science fiction. However, recent scientific research proves that this concept is not necessarily fictional. Scientists are beginning to accurately understand how memories are stored, weakened, and even artificially created. With this growth of research, many questions have been raised, not only concerning the science itself, but also regarding identity, ethics, and future treatments for mental health.

To understand whether memories can be erased or implanted, it is necessary to understand how memory functions. Unlike a computer, which stores its memories in perfect, intact files, the brain creates them through engrams, or networks of neurons. Each time one remembers something, the brain recreates the memory, thus becoming temporarily flexible–meaning the neural networks can shift and reorganize themselves. This natural rewiring of connections in the brain is called reconsolidation, meaning a memory is never fixed; rather, it can change, strengthen, or weaken during recall, depending on the circumstances.

Memories can be erased, and it is more realistic than most people think. In a few critical experiments with mice, the scientists determined which brain cells housed particular memories. Optogenetics is a method of controlling neurons with light, and with it, scientists can shut off neurons storing a fear memory. The mice afterward did not react with fear toward the situation that initially terrified them. However, this particular method cannot be applied to humans because it is notably invasive; nevertheless, it does demonstrate that memories can be located and disrupted.

Most researchers working to wipe out memory in humans aim to weaken traumatic memories rather than erase them altogether. Various tools that researchers use include the blood pressure medication called propranolol. If a person recalls a traumatic memory under the influence of the drug, the emotional part of that memory is suppressed. The person remembers the event but no longer finds it painful, and the memory is less likely to spur anxiety. Another approach uses therapeutic techniques that take advantage of reconsolidation. By helping patients recall a memory in a controlled setting, therapists guide the brain to store it differently, thereby softening or reshaping the memory. It is not technical deletion, but painful memories can be rendered far less powerful.

Equally intriguing is the concept of implanting memories. Astonishingly, scientists have so far demonstrated that implanted memories in animals are indeed possible. In one of the most famous studies, false memories were induced in mice by activating memory cells in one place while delivering a small shock in another. The mouse acted frightened when it was later placed in the first location, where nothing bad had ever happened to it. In this way, the experiment showed that the brain can be fooled into storing events that never took place. In humans, the implantation of memories occurs in a more subtle but significant manner. The human brain is inherently susceptible to suggestion. Psychological studies have shown that memories can be influenced simply by the phrasing of questions or by listening to others describe an event. In extreme cases, individuals can conjure detailed recollections of events that never occurred, which often happens when they’re instructed to do so by a trusted authority figure or therapist. These are what are referred to as false memories,  showing how easily the brain can construct new "experiences" out of imagination combined with suggestion. 

Human memory implantation involves no technology, unlike in animal experiments, but instead relies on social and psychological influences. Nonetheless, the effect can be strong enough that the person genuinely believes the implanted memory. Weakened or overwritten hurtful memories may finally give people a way to break free from the emotional burdens holding them back. And if that's the truth of what defines us, then changing it could very well change a person's identity. There's also the prospect that the technology for editing memories could become so potent that the potential for abuse raises all sorts of questions about consent, manipulation, and personal autonomy. Considering everything, modern research shows that–at some level–the erasure and implantation of memories are scientifically possible. Humans can't quite scrub or upload memories the way movies depict it, but science is slowly inching towards that direction. Memories aren't fixed recordings; they are living, changing structures influenced by biology, drugs, psychology, and even by suggestion. As scientists learn more about how memories work, society will have to decide just how far we're willing to go in reshaping the mind.

Citations:

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