Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/393
24 #1 Fall 2008 Don't Leave Your Memory At Home A conversation with Pete Estep of InnerSpace Foundation Your brain. It may be your second favorite body part or – if you're a true geek – it may be your first. Either way, your brain is the one and only implement at your disposal that allows you to have any experience of the world. A recently organized nonprofit, e InnerSpace Foundation (IF), seeks to open up new ground in the operation and use of the human brain. Declaring themselves "dedicated to accelerating the development of technologies for improving learning, memory, and other frailties of the human mind," IF has created a neuroengineering competition it calls e IF Prize. IF is offering two awards. "e Learn- ing Prize" will be "awarded for a device that augments or bypasses the need for tradi- tional learning of information." And "e Memory Prize" will go to "a device that al- lows storage and later retrieval of memory information." So fire up your neurotech engines, la- dies and gentlemen. And as for the rest of us, presumably the contest winner will re- member it for us wholesale. I interviewed Preston W. (Pete) Estep III, Ph.D., chairman and chief scientific of- ficer of IF, via email. H+: Let me start off with a broad gen- eral question. I interviewed Zack Lynch a few years ago – the executive director of the Neurosociety. He believes that neuro- logical improvement and self-control will be the defining characteristic of human society in a decade or so, acing out even biotech. I wonder if you share this view. Will we see a neurological age? PETE W. ESTEP: I absolutely share this view and Zack is a trustee of the Inner- Space Foundation to help make this vision a reality. But maximum benefit will only ma- terialize on that timeline if we push hard on the accelerator. I started out in neuroscience research as an undergraduate (at Cornell) because I saw the importance and centrality of the field to both understanding and im- proving biology and behavior. I also sensed huge future potential for the integration of neuro with computer technology. When I moved on to get my Ph.D. [at Harvard] I was still excited about the prospects for a neurotech revolution a few years down the road, but I wanted to do more in silico biol- ogy and I sensed an impending revolution in genomics after I met and began to work with my doctoral adviser, George Church. So, I got into genome science because it was so hot and exciting and so many smart people from computer science, engineering, and various hard sciences were joining in, and George's lab seemed like the place to be. I am still very excited about what is go- ing on in genomics but I've segued back into neuro because I think the potential is even greater — probably far greater, especially for people already alive. e Internet and electronic devices have become pervasive and indispensable, and interfaces between us and these outboard intelligences will become increasingly powerful and direct. I think these changes will come steadily and will profoundly transform our lives, but maximum impact will only come if we alter the current research and development dy- namic to produce those technologies with the greatest potential. H+: Your project, as I understand it, is offering awards for uploading informa- tion to the brain, and downloading infor- mation from the brain. And the idea is a