Augmented memory: a survey of the approaches to remembering more

Given that our ability to remember is inherently limited, one “solution” is to artificially enhancememory. Here I discuss four general approaches that have been developed to augment human long-term memory: nootropics agents, brain stimulation, mnemonic strategies, and external aids. The former two have only been recently developed in the field of systems neuroscience, and have become the focus of ethical debate. For example, some ethicists question the propriety of artificial memory enhancement in healthy individuals. As I demonstrate here, all four methods have been considered ethically suspect at one time or another. Inmedieval times, the use of mnemonics was considered immoral by many, and even the use of written texts as memory aids has been suggested as producing the appearance of knowledge, void of actual knowledge. Here I present a summary of each approach, beginning with those that fall within the scope of systems neuroscience, and discuss considerations critical to each of their respective ethical debates.