Rachel's Memories

Neuroscientists plant false memories in the brain

Excerpt:

The phenomenon of false memory has been well-documented: In many court cases, defendants have been found guilty based on testimony from witnesses and victims who were sure of their recollections, but DNA evidence later overturned the conviction. In a step toward understanding how these faulty memories arise, MIT neuroscientists have shown that they can plant false memories in the brains of mice. They also found that many of the neurological traces of these memories are identical in nature to those of authentic memories.

Comment: A theme from Blade Runner, "Deckard is sent to the Tyrell Corporation to ensure that the test works on Nexus-6 models. There he discovers that Tyrell's (Joe Turkel) assistant Rachael (Sean Young) is an experimental replicant who believes herself to be human. Rachael's consciousness has been enhanced with false memories to provide an "emotional cushion" and, as a result, a more extensive test is required to determine whether she is a replicant." Image Source