A pilot study conducted by a team of researchers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the University of Southern California successfully implemented a prosthetic memory system in a human brain.

The technology taps into an individual's natural memory patterns to strengthen the brain's ability to encode and recall information. Researchers found that the system improved a patient's short-term memory performance by nearly 40 percent. In particular, it helps with an individual's episodic memory, which is what Alzheimer's patients or those who suffer strokes and head trauma typically see weaken.