World's First Neural Device to Restore Memory to be Developed
From: Medical Design Technology - 07/09/2014

The Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
awarded Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) up to $2.5 million to
develop an implantable neural device with the ability to record and stimulate
neurons within the brain to help restore memory, DARPA officials announced
this week.

The research builds on the understanding that memory is a process in which
neurons in certain regions of the brain encode information, store it and
retrieve it. Certain types of illnesses and injuries, including Traumatic
Brain Injury (TBI), Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy, disrupt this process
and cause memory loss. TBI, in particular, has affected 270,000 military
service members since 2000.

The goal of LLNL's work – driven by LLNL's Neural Technology group and
undertaken in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA) and Medtronic - is to develop a device that uses real-time recording
and closed-loop stimulation of neural tissues to bridge gaps in the injured
brain and restore individuals' ability to form new memories and access
previously formed ones.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2014/07/worlds-first-neural-device-restore-memory-be-developed

Links:
LLNL's Neural Technology group
https://neurotech.llnl.gov/

Implant to Restore Memories
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2014/07/photos-day-implant-restore-memories

Developing World's First Memory Restoration Device
http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/component/content/article/1104-mdb/news/20132

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DARPA to test devices that help restore memory
From: GCN - 07/17/2014

DARPA is ramping up a program that aims to produce wireless, implantable
“neuroprosthetic” devices that can help military service members and veterans
overcome memory problems caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI) or other
diseases.

The teams aim to test wireless, fully implantable neural-interface medical
devices that can serve as neuroprosthetics, technology that can bridge gaps
that interfere with the ability "to encode new memories or retrieve old ones."  

Read the entire article at:
http://gcn.com/articles/2014/07/17/darpa-brain-implant-memory-loss.aspx?s=gcntech_180714