Learning while you sleep isn't impossible, as long as you're a mouse
Fake memories have been created in sleeping mice, according to a study published today. The findings suggest that similar techniques could one day be used to treat conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in humans, though major hurdles remain.
The study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, involved five mice that were placed within an enclosed circular space. Researchers used electrical brain implants to create a “reward” sensation in the mice whenever they thought about a specific area of the space during sleep. When they woke up and returned to the space, they went immediately to the area associated with the reward, suggesting that an artificial memory had been formed.
Source:: The Verge
