Science & Technology

Could we one day upload memories from a dead brain to a computer ?

By T.K. Randall
July 1, 2025

Image: Quintephone Brainwave Regen Poster
Credit: Glogger / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) While most experts would agree that the idea of uploading a person's consciousness to a computer remains very much in the realm of science-fiction, the idea of recording someone's memories so that they can be played back on a computer might actually have some merit.

Even so, it seems that neuroscientists are very much divided on when, how or if this can be done.

According to a recent study, 40% of neuroscientists believe that it will one day be possible to emulate a human brain and 70% believe that memory has a physical basis.

That said, however, the study authors concluded that "there was no clear consensus on exactly which neurophysiological feature or scale is critical for memory storage".

This means that nobody is quite sure how one would go about extracting memories from a physical, preserved brain or how to convert them into a viewable format on a computer.

Another question posed by the researchers was whether it was theoretically possible to preserve a brain using existing tools and technologies so that memories can be extracted from it at a later date.Around 40% of neuroscientists said that it was likely possible to accomplish this.

"That's a substantial chunk of neuroscientists who think there's a very real chance that it will work, and my guess is that actually that number will creep up over time as we get better at doing these brain implants, emulations, all these other things," study leader and neuroscientist Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston told IFL Science.

One question that wasn't covered is whether or not we actually should try to do something like this.

Imagine a future in which someone's life memories could be extracted after their death.

Would this be beneficial to society or the ultimate invasion of privacy ?

Clearly, it would raise a lot of concerns and issues.

Source: Gizmodo

Tags: Brain, Memories