I've been thinking about how we might encourage more new Big Ideas in science (especially brain research).

There's a lot to unpack there, but one thing that works for some scientists: reading speculative fiction / #scifi. Science excels at its rigor but it can also stifle creativity. Speculative fiction is one way to open that gate back up again.

Here are a few of my favorite #specfic stories about the mind and brain and the big ideas that they are written around.

Ted Chiang, The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”. Big idea: our personal (and cultural) identities rely on the fallibility of memory.

@gregeganSF, "Axiomatic". Big Idea: we should be wary of perturbing brains to relieve angst.

Ken Liu, "The Cleaners", Big idea: Our attachment to memory defines us.

Jennifer Egan, "The Candy House". Big idea: Sharing our memories has both beneficial and negative consequences.

What are your favorite #specfic stories and what Big Ideas are they attached to?

#neuroscience #cognition #brain #mind

@NicoleCRust @gregeganSF
In Larry Niven's "A world out of time" the hero learns new stuff by injecting RNA to help consolidate the memory.
The field is not there yet, but maybe in a couple of decades of studying RNA transport within and between dendrites, axons, neuron-glia etc... we can make it to work.

@grnfluoresceblg
Yes! Exactly what I'm talking about. What an excellent way to explore and inspire really novel ideas about memory. That type of exploration can trigger all sorts of other ideas - for example, maybe it doesn't happen exactly that way, but what might be other possible ways haven't thought of yet?

So...in that vein, your post led me down a path of looking up some ideas that emerged back in the late 1950s about mRNA and memory transfer and I landed here:

https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/18/8225321/memory-research-flatworm-cannibalism-james-mcconnell-michael-levin

⬆️​ A recommended read. @drmichaellevin- exciting! Any updates?

@NicoleCRust @drmichaellevin
Are you familiar with @Odedrechavi 's work? His lab showed (among other things) transgenerational transfer of memory by small RNAs in worms.