Scientists have for the first time improved memory by applying direct electrical stimulation to a key area in the brain as it learns its way around a new environment, the New York Times reports. Experts said that the new study, appearing Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, was tantalizing but not yet conclusive, because the number of patients tested — six — was small, and the biological effects of electrical stimulation are still poorly understood. “People should run to replicate this study, because the implications are incredibly exciting, both for understanding the mechanism for encoding new memories, and ultimately for the treatment of neurological diseases” like dementias, said Michael J. Kahana, PhD, a Penn neuroscientist, who was not involved in the research.