Can Memory Extraction Enable Humanity's Transition from Carbon-Based to Silicon-Based Life? Huashan Hospital President Mao Ying: Memory Copying Is the Ultimate Goal, Yet the Storage Form of Long-Term Memory Remains Unclear

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(Source: National Business Daily)

On December 13, at the "2025 TCCI Brain-Computer Interface and Artificial Intelligence Forum and the Annual Meeting of the Brain-Computer Interface and Interaction Branch of the Chinese Neuroscience Society," Mao Ying, president of Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, and Tao Hu, founder and chief scientist of NeuroXess, were interviewed by reporters from *Every Daily News*.

At this conference, NeuroXess announced that the domestically first and globally second fully implanted, fully wireless, and fully functional brain-computer interface product with a built-in battery, independently developed by the company, successfully completed its first clinical trial under the leadership of Professor Mao Ying and Professor Chen Liang's team from Huashan Hospital. This has brought new hope to a patient who has been paralyzed from the neck down for 8 years and unable to move below the shoulders.New Hope。

Brain-Computer Interface with Built-in Power Supply

Tao Hu introduced the specific principle of this technology to reporters from Every Day Economic News. The first part is the flexible electrode, which is placed under the dura mater and above the cortex. It can adhere to the relatively folded brain and perceive EEG signals. Since the flexible electrode is relatively thin, it can cover a larger area, including the motor area, language area, etc. Moreover, because it does not need to be implanted inside the cortex, it causes minimal damage to the brain itself.

The brainwave signals collected by flexible electrodes are very weak, so they need to be amplified and filtered in time by the brain electrode chip, converting analog signals into digital signals. This is because analog signals are susceptible to various electromagnetic interferences during transmission, while digital signals are affected much less.

The second part is the chest section, which includes the battery, wireless communication module, etc. The battery built into the chest can be charged via wireless charging. The chest section is connected to the head section by a data cable that passes through a subcutaneous tunnel.

In this way, the battery in the chest can be charged wirelessly, and digital signals can also be transmitted from the device in the chest to external devices. Compared with traditional brain-computer interfaces, this technology means that patients can achieve real-time interaction of thoughts without connecting or wearing any external devices during postoperative recovery and daily life, truly gaining "wireless freedom" in terms of mobility and dignity.

Can We Move Towards Silicon-Based Life?

Mao Ying believes that the current development speed of brain-computer interaction technology has far exceeded his imagination from 10 years ago. According to his prediction, in 10 years, there will be tremendous changes in the speed, efficacy, computing power, algorithms, and application scope of brain-computer interaction. In the next decade, the brain-computer interface industry will experience numerous original and groundbreaking developments.

Mao Ying stated that the brain's own form of expression is the electrical activity formed by synaptic connections between neurons, and it is reasonable to record this electrical activity using electroencephalography (EEG). However, some groundbreaking methods have now emerged, such as using ultrasound, light, and other forms to capture signals.

So, with the development of brain-computer interface technology, will it be possible in the future to extract memories stored in the hippocampus and allow life to exist in a silicon-based form? Mao Ying replied to reporters from *Every Day Economic News*: "When I was studying neuroscience, I thought that one day if we wanted to read someone's mind, we could just take a chip and read his memories. But this raises many issues. First, the hippocampus only contains short-term memory, and after a night’s sleep, the memories stored there may disappear the next day. In other words, the hippocampus is just a transit point for memory. Where are long-term memories stored, and in what form? So far, it remains unclear."

Mao Ying added: "From the perspective of neurology, in many disease states, human memory can be lost but also partially retained. How to copy memory and preserve residual memory is a very ultimate goal. But this is extremely difficult because all activities inside the brain are electrical. Whether memory is ultimately stored in the form of proteins or neural synapses remains subject to various conjectures. We can have a beautiful vision that one day we will achieve the ability to store memory. However, from the perspective of current research, it may disappoint everyone."