I’m a neuroscientist who works on memory manipulation. My work helps me recover from addiction

I’m a neuroscientist who works on memory manipulation. My work helps me recover from addiction

When philosophers imagined the ship of Theseus, they asked: Can a vessel that has all its planks replaced one by one over time as it sails uncharted waters still be considered the same ship? Neuroscience offers a fascinating answer to this conundrum: yes — and not quite. The brain is rebuilt in much the same way, plank by plank, neuron by neuron. Cells are born and die, synapses rewire, and entire populations of neurons drift in and out of activ…