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	Podcast:		In the closet Objectivists
	Episode:		Neural Prosthesis and Free Will
	Category:		Government & Organizations
	Duration:		00:46:00
	Publish Date:		2017-07-02 13:00:00
	Description:		For the past few years, researchers at the University of Southern California have developed an electronic chip and implanted into the the brains of rats and other animals. With this neural prosthesis, they cannot only record neural activity as the rat forms a new memory; they can generate a memory from a "donor" rat (one who has performed and recorded a successful memory test) to a naive rat (one who has never seen the memory test). The naive rat can use the "donor" memory to correctly perform a test they've never seen. What does this mean for us? Will we be able to learn complex skills with the click of a button? Ameliorate mental deterioration in Alzheimer's patients? Preserve precious memories so that we can relive them exactly the way the were formed? What are the implications for indellibly recorded traumatic or sublime memories? How does alter the way we recall memories? What implications do immutable memories have on free will? One of the research papers referenced in the podcast can be accessed here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3141091/
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