Posibrains and people

[Wer6]

Is it possible for a humanoid on SS13, to get there brain uploaded onto a posibrain, with all their memories, expereince, ETC, intact, or even at all?

I just want to know, because I was thinking of a character, but I would have to know whether this is possible or not.

[Guest]

It is possible, using game mechanics to complete a "Brain uploading" process by shoving a fleshy MMI in an AI core, Intelicarding the fleshbrain AI, and then shoving it in an AI with a positronic brain inside it.

[TishinaStalker]

Huh... I thought posibrains were fully digital? How do you "download" a brain's thoughts and everything into an intellicard? o.O

[Wer6]

That's just game mechancis. ICly, is it possible to make a person, eventualy, into a posibrain?

[Guest]

It's a synthetic personality. It's akin to a droid processor, or 'brain'.

[NebulaFlare]

The lore states an organic brain is used as a processor, something to collect, compile, and process data. Memories are presumably lost the moment the brain is connected into a machine. That's an RP mechanic to prevent players from going, "Oh, so-and-so killed me."

Anyway, if we're going to analyze memories...there is a science behind it. Annnnd I'm too lazy to go and write a short paragraph myself, so I'm gonna go copy-pasta off of HowStuffWorks.com Credits to the authors there.

 

Although a memory begins with perception, it is encoded and stored using the language of electricity and chemicals. Here's how it works: Nerve cells connect with other cells at a point called a synapse. All the action in your brain occurs at these synapses, where electrical pulses carrying messages leap across gaps between cells.

The electrical firing of a pulse across the gap triggers the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters diffuse across the spaces between cells, attaching themselves to neighboring cells. Each brain cell can form thousands of links like this, giving a typical brain about 100 trillion synapses. The parts of the brain cells that receive these electric impulses are called dendrites, feathery tips of brain cells that reach out to neighboring brain cells.

The connections between brain cells aren't set in concrete -- they change all the time. Brain cells work together in a network, organizing themselves into groups that specialize in different kinds of information processing. As one brain cell sends signals to another, the synapse between the two gets stronger. The more signals sent between them, the stronger the connection grows. Thus, with each new experience, your brain slightly rewires its physical structure. In fact, how you use your brain helps determine how your brain is organized. It is this flexibility, which scientists call plasticity, that can help your brain rewire itself if it is ever damaged.

As you learn and experience the world and changes occur at the synapses and dendrites, more connections in your brain are created. The brain organizes and reorganizes itself in response to your experiences, forming memories triggered by the effects of outside input prompted by experience, education, or training.

These changes are reinforced with use, so that as you learn and practice new information, intricate circuits of knowledge and memory are built in the brain. If you play a piece of music over and over, for example, the repeated firing of certain cells in a certain order in your brain makes it easier to repeat this firing later on. The result: You get better at playing the music. You can play it faster, with fewer mistakes. Practice it long enough and you will play it perfectly. Yet if you stop practicing for several weeks and then try to play the piece, you may notice that the result is no longer perfect. Your brain has already begun to forget what you once knew so well.

To properly encode a memory, you must first be paying attention. Since you cannot pay attention to everything all the time, most of what you encounter every day is simply filtered out, and only a few stimuli pass into your conscious awareness. If you remembered every single thing that you noticed, your memory would be full before you even left the house in the morning. What scientists aren't sure about is whether stimuli are screened out during the sensory input stage or only after the brain processes its significance. What we do know is that how you pay attention to information may be the most important factor in how much of it you actually remember.

 

Sleep is also known to play an important factor in the development of memories. There have been studies conducted where a good night's rest allowed people to function better, and retain info more readily. REM sleep (rapid eye movement) is the time when you dream, and that appears to be the strong indicator if memories are kept or not. It's like the time when our brain can figure out what is important to remember, and what is not. Our understanding is so limited on this field of science, it's difficult to make a conclusion of how it would apply in 2D spessmen.

Now, machines don't sleep...so what would that do to the organic processor? Does an MMI forcefully create artificial memory files by altering the brain? If yes, it's safe to assume the person's original memories would slowly deteriorate. Maybe parts that would be considered important would be remembered over and over again, but when that intellicard comes over to turn memories into code, it is mostly 'copying' data. Translating from chemicals and electrical pulses to....electrical pulses. Hm. Maybe the memories would be transferred over. Just saved and written in a different language.

But then, would those memories be rigid and concrete, unable to change? Because the brain can change its memories. An event isn't accurately remembered. Once the transfer happens, it's set up solid, for good. The code isn't changing unless you toss in a program to change it.

So to answer....maybe. Maaaaybe the memory stays. But it's definitely gonna be written differently.

But if it only loses memories, maybe they can keep parts of their personality intact? Not too sure. Our current knowledge of how our own human psyche functions, is pretty much still unknown. All we can do is theorize.