Memory: Pandora's hippocampus?

Greater knowledge of the human brain has enabled us to begin devising therapies to rescue or modify memory for the afflicted, such as Alzheimer's patients or post-traumatic stress disorder victims. This same knowledge could also allow us to alter how normal, healthy memory operates; we may become able to enhance memory and learning through biological intervention. But the brain consists of complex, interactive networks, and unintended consequences could easily occur. Moreover, memory is woven into our individuality. Altering our memory processes therefore risks altering us fundamentally. We may not be able to resist opening this neuroscientific Pandora's Box, John Gabrieli writes, but we must proceed with all the wisdom we can muster.