Learning, remembering something, and recalling memories is supported by multiple separate groups of neurons connected inside and across key regions in the brain. If these neural assemblies fail to sync together at the right time, the memories are lost, a new study has found.
How do you keep track of what to do next? What happens in the brain when your mind goes blank? Short-term memory relies on two key brain regions: the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. The researchers set out to establish how these brain regions interact with one another as memories are formed, maintained and recalled at the level of specific groups of neurons. The study, published in Currently Biology, also wanted to understand why memory sometimes fails.
"Neural assemblies” – groups of neurons that join forces to process information – were first proposed over 70 years ago, but have proved difficult to pinpoint.
Using brain recordings in rats, the research team has shown that memory encoding, storage and recall is supported by dynamic interactions incorporating multiple neural assemblies formed within and between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. When the coordination of these assemblies fails, the animals made mistakes.
The lead author, said: “Our results make potential therapeutic interventions for memory restoration more challenging to target in space and time. On the other hand, our findings have identified critical processes that determine a success or failure in remembering. These present viable targets for therapeutic interventions on the level of neural assembly interactions.”
The senior author of the paper, added: “Our findings add to evidence that the neural substrates of memory are more distributed in anatomical space and dynamic across time than previously thought based on the neuropsychological models.”
The next steps for the research would be to modulate neural assembly interactions, either using drugs or via brain stimulation, which the lead author currently doing in human patients, to test whether disrupting or augmenting them would impair or enhance remembering. The research team presumes the same mechanisms would work in human patients to restore memory functions impaired in a particular brain disorder.
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)00169-0
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fdistinct-hippocampal&filter=22
Memories could be lost if two key brain regions fail to sync together
- 734 views
- Added
Latest News
Human Microglial State Dyna…
By newseditor
Posted 05 Dec
Giant immune cells compensa…
By newseditor
Posted 05 Dec
Menopausal hormone changes…
By newseditor
Posted 05 Dec
Humans can intermittently r…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Dec
Why young kids don't get se…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Dec
Other Top Stories
Genetic variant linked with faster progression of multiple sclerosis
Read more
How cells rewrite their fate
Read more
Neuronal signal needed for blood-brain barrier development!
Read more
Boosting certain brain cells diminished hypersensitivity in Fragile…
Read more
Batten disease protein is critical for generating new lysosomes
Read more
Protocols
Brain-wide circuit-specific…
By newseditor
Posted 05 Dec
Cheap, cost-effective, and…
By newseditor
Posted 03 Dec
Temporally multiplexed imag…
By newseditor
Posted 02 Dec
Efficient elimination of ME…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Dec
Personalized drug screening…
By newseditor
Posted 30 Nov
Publications
Human microglial state dyna…
By newseditor
Posted 05 Dec
Eating disorders: are gut m…
By newseditor
Posted 05 Dec
Cancer cells reprogram to m…
By newseditor
Posted 05 Dec
Estrogen receptor beta in a…
By newseditor
Posted 05 Dec
Microbiota from Alzheimer's…
By newseditor
Posted 05 Dec
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar