is this our first step toward Total Recall?

Okay maybe I'm jumping the gun with the Total Recall thing, but this is fascinating none the less.

A team of doctors in Canada stumbled upon the finding while attempting to treat a morbidly obese man through deep brain stimulation (DBS).

He had refused gastric surgery, and doctors decided deep brain stimulation, although experimental, was his best option.

And the cool part:

When the electrodes were stimulated by electrical impulses the patient began to experience feelings of deja vu.

He then had a sudden perception of being in a park with friends.

He felt younger, thought he was around 20-years-old, and his girlfriend of the time was there. He was an observer, and saw the scene in colour.

As the intensity of the stimulation increased, details in the scene became more vivid.

I'm neither obese nor have any big memory issues, save for the fact I keep misplacing my wallet and keys around the house, but sign me up for some deep stim so I can relive my early life again. Sounds fun.

BBC NEWS | Health | Deep stimulation 'boosts memory'

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Chimp bests man in memory contest. World domination next?

Who would have thought? There is more and more research coming out the past couple years demonstrating animals have similar (or better) capabilities in areas previously thought to be either uniquely human or at least human dominated.

When scientists found out that chimps had better memories than students, there were unkind comments about the calibre of the human competition they faced.

But now an ape has gone one better, trouncing British memory champion Ben Pridmore.

Ayumu, a seven-year-old male brought up in captivity in Japan, did three times as well as Mr Pridmore at a computer game which involved remembering the position of numbers on a screen.

And that's no mean feat - the 30-year-old accountant from Derby is capable of memorising the order of a shuffled pack of cards in under 30 seconds.

I'm the chimpion! Ape trounces the best of the human world in memory competition | the Daily Mail

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