History Main / NeuralImplanting

* Carlyle in ''Film/{{Elysium}}'' stores program code in his brain that will reboot Elysium's system. It also comes with a defense mechanism that kills anyone who attempts to execute the code without authorization.

* ''Series/ThePrisoner1967''. In "The General", the residents of the Village (including Number Six) have historical facts on a MasterComputer downloaded into their mind via a hypnosis. Naturally this is intended to be used for social control purposes by the people running the Village. Six is not impressed with people having the ability to rattle off information without being able to think for themselves, and {{Logic Bomb}}s the computer simply by asking it "Why?"

* ''Series/ThePrisoner''. In "The General", the residents of the Village (including Number Six) have historical facts on a MasterComputer downloaded into their mind via a hypnosis. Naturally this is intended to be used for social control purposes by the people running the Village. Six is not impressed with people having the ability to rattle off information without being able to think for themselves, and {{Logic Bomb}}s the computer simply by asking it "Why?"

%%* The teen novel ''Literature/{{Feed}}'' uses this as a main plot point.

* ''A Quantum Murder'' by Creator/PeterFHamilton. The eponymous murder is committed by the villain uploading the personality of a serial killer into someone else's mind, using technology recently developed for this trope. At the end of the novel, [[HonestCorporateExecutive Julia Evans]] buys the technology with the intention of destroying it so it can't be misused again.

* Seen on a limited basis in ''Literature/TheNexusSeries''. We see some software programs being run on nexus, including a dating app that makes you say the right lines, a porn VR that controls your motor cortex to help you perform, and most notably, a fight game "Bruce Lee" given to main character Kade by Rangan to help him in tough situtations. Notably, while the dating sim gets results, the porn VR glitches out at the worst time, and Bruce Lee usually get's Kade's ass kicked. The most successful app is Kade's serenity package, which modulates his neurotransmitter levels to keep his pulse under control and prevent people from knowing when he's lying.

* ''A Quantum Murder by Creator/PeterFHamilton. The eponymous murder is committed by the villain uploading the personality of a serial killer into someone else's mind, using technology recently developed for this trope. At the end of the novel, [[HonestCorporateExecutive Julia Evans]] buys the technology with the intention of destroying it so it can't be misused again.

* Rhys from ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands'' has both a robotic arm and a neural implant called an "Echo-Eye" that allows him to scan objects and people for information, as well as allowing him to hack computers easier by seeing their inner workings. At one point he also uses it to determine where a volley of orbital attacks are going to land by tracking the artillery's trajectory.

* Rhys from ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands'' has both a robotic arm and a neural implant called an "Echo-Eye" that allows him to scan objects and people for information. At one point he also uses it to determine where orbital attacks are going to land by tracking the artillery's trajectory.

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* One side-character mage in ''Manga/FairyTail'' has this ability - he's not much good in a fight but marvelous at directing it, as he can download skills and even maps with waypoints into people's heads from a distance.

* In ''Film/JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle'', players can naturally access their character's skills while in the game. For non-badass characters, it's in the form of knowledge they never learned.

* Shows up in a couple ways in ''Literature/HiveMind2016''. "Imprinting", as it's known, is standard practice for young adults of the main character's society: it lets them start work at 18, increasing working lifespan. Telepaths are the only ones who aren't imprinted, due to the risk of damaging their powers. Imprinting can be very dangerous - while the main character's society only imprints people once, and with relatively small batches of data, we see a man who's had far too many overly large imprints. He goes through a complete mental collapse from which he's unlikely to recover. The main character ends up [[MercyKill mercy killing]] him.

* In the fourth-season ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' episode, "The Ultimate Impostor," Steve Austin's friend Joe Patton is a POW whose mind has been wiped to a blank slate by chemicals. This makes him the perfect test subject for a new OSI procedure to create the ultimate agent by downloading information and skills directly into his brain.

* In the 1980's television adaptation of ''Literature/TheTripods'', an undercover Freeman is infiltrating the Master's city and successfully gains admittance to the Power Elite who run the machines. Unfortunately he's connected to a learning machine that downloads all the advanced knowledge he needs through his Cap -- a MindControl device which (in his case) has been disconnected. Fortunately he's able to convince the Masters that allowing him to learn naturally would increase his initiative.

* ''VideoGame/SystemShock'', ''System Shock 2'', ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', and ''VideoGame/Bioshock2'', all based on the CyberPunk genre started by ''Neuromancer'', make use of this trope. The ''Bioshock'' games frame it as LegoGenetics, but the end result is pretty much the same.

* ''Webcomic/Building12'' played this for laughs. [[{{Yandere}} Peoni]] steals the memories of one of Joe's one-night stands and implants the memory of the encounter into her own brain--and it turns out the girl is into some strange, disturbing fetish, {{squick}}ing Peoni out.

* In the sixth season of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', it's revealed that inhibitor chips were implanted into the clone troopers' brains by Palpatine to ensure that they would carry out [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Order 66]].

A trope where computer files, images, databases, or [[PowersAsPrograms abilities]] are downloaded into a person's brain. PowersAsPrograms, ExpositionBeam, FakeMemories, UpgradeArtifact, AmplifierArtifact, and NeuroVault are fond of using this. BrainUploading may result in this later on, but not always. May cause MySkullRunnethOver.

* One side-character mage in ''Manga/FairyTail'' has this ability - he's not much good in a fight but marvellous at directing it, as he can download skills and even maps with waypoints into people's heads from a distance.

* Research into [[http://www.alzheimers.net/2014-02-12/wireless-brain-implant-for-alzheimers/ Brain implants]] for [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2617705/brain-implant-restore-MEMORIES-wounded-soldiers-Alzheimers-sufferers-ethical.html Alzheimer's patients]] and those who have been injured (in combat) are being developed by the U.S. government to restore short term memory and motor function; there's also some hope that longer term memory may one day be restored through this technology.

* An odd version of this trope is applied in ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}''. Nobita doesn't like to study, so Doraemon provides Nobita with "ankipan", a special form of bread that can be pressed into a book, the book's information copied to the bread, and then after eating the bread Nobita would remember everything printed on it.

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1609383629095611900&page=1 under discussion]] in the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1597830869030327400&page=1#1 Trope Repair Shop]].]]]]]]

* In ''VideoGame/PerfectDark Zero'', Jack Dark rescues scientist Nathan Ziegler and recovers classified data. Ziegler then downloads that data into Jack's brain before dying.

* This trope was the premise of an Creator/IsaacAsimov short story titled "Profession". It was a {{deconstruction}} of the trope; when you learn by uploading knowledge to your brain, you're only as good as the quality of the upload.

* Shows up in a couple ways in ''Literature/HiveMind''. "Imprinting", as it's known, is standard practice for young adults of the main character's society: it lets them start work at 18, increasing working lifespan. Telepaths are the only ones who aren't imprinted, due to the risk of damaging their powers. Imprinting can be very dangerous - while the main character's society only imprints people once, and with relatively small batches of data, we see a man who's had far too many overly large imprints. He goes through a complete mental collapse from which he's unlikely to recover. The main character ends up [[MercyKill mercy killing]] him.

* In ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'', large amounts of the populace of developed nations have cybernetically augmented brains, allowing them read and execute files, including fire-control software, text documents, images, videos, emotions, memories, and computer viruses. One notable instance has a character theorize a cyborg is downloading fire-control software in the middle of a fight, implying that to do so is a fairly common occurrence.

* The Genomorphs in ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'' are capable of copying large amounts of knowledge from one mind to another and integrating it as if it were learned naturally (or even better). In the Paragon timeline, Zatanna uses them to get an instant high school education and test out, while the Renegade uses them to easily pass the exam for a government-run superhero training and qualification program (as well as up-skilling several of his allies).