Memories Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Pupil Size in Sleep Reveals How Memories are Sorted, Preserved

The AHA! Team — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 06:29:41 +0000

Cornell University via EurekAlert! – Cornell University researchers have found the pupil is key to understanding how, and when, the brain forms strong, long-lasting memories. By studying mice equipped with brain electrodes and tiny eye-tracking cameras, the researchers determined that new memories are being replayed and consolidated when the pupil is contracted during a substage of non-REM sleep. When the pupil is dilated, the process repeats for older memories. The brain’s ability to separate these two substages of sleep with a previously unknown micro-structure is what prevents “catastrophic forgetting” in which the consolidation of one memory wipes out another one. The findings could lead to better memory enhancement techniques for humans and may help computer scientists train artificial neural networks to be more efficient. The study, under embargo until 11am ET on Jan. 1 in Nature, was led by assistant professors Azahara Oliva and Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz. Over the course of a month, a group of mice was taught a variety of tasks, such as collecting water or cookie rewards in a maze. Then the mice were outfitted with brain electrodes and tiny spy cameras that hung in front of their eyes to track their pupil dynamics. One day, the mice learned a new task and when they fell asleep, the electrodes captured their neural activity, and the cameras recorded the changes to their pupils. “Non-REM sleep is when the actual memory consolidation happens, and these moments are very, very short periods of time undetectable by humans, like 100 milliseconds,” Oliva said. Non-REM sleep is when the actual memory consolidation happens “How does the brain distribute these screenings of memory that are very fast and very short throughout the overall night? And how does that separate the new knowledge coming in, in a way that it doesn’t interfere with old knowledge that we already have in our minds?” The recordings showed that the temporal structure of sleeping mice is more varied, and more akin to the sleep stages in humans, than previously thought. By interrupting the mice’s sleep at different moments and later testing how well they recalled their learned tasks, the researchers were able to parse the processes. When a mouse enters a substage of non-REM sleep, its pupil shrinks, and it’s here the recently learned tasks – i.e., the new memories – are being reactivated and consolidated while previous knowledge is not. Conversely, older memories are replayed and integrated when the pupil is dilated. “It’s like new learning, old knowledge, new learning, old knowledge, and that is fluctuating slowly throughout the sleep,” Oliva said. “We are proposing that the brain has this intermediate timescale that separates the new learning from the old knowledge.” The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Sloan Foundation, the Whitehall Foundation, the Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Program, and the Klarman Fellowships Program. Journal Nature Article Title Sleep micro-structure organizes memory replay To read the original article click here.

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Antibiotics Destroy Memories?

The AHA! Team — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 06:09:34 +0000

Al Sears, MD, CNS – A study by epidemiologists at Harvard Medical School reveals a crucial link between your gut’s reaction to antibiotics – especially when taken during midlife and older – and a dramatic decline in cognitive ability as you age. Even in my earliest days of practicing medicine, I was never a big fan of prescribing antibiotics – except, of course, in cases of extreme or life-threatening infections. Because even back then, I was concerned about the damage these drugs could cause to your gut. That’s because trillions of microscopic bacteria – some that protect against certain diseases and some that can cause disease – live in your microbiome and exist in a delicate balance with each other. The problem is that antibiotics can’t distinguish between so-called “good” bacteria and the “bad” ones causing the infection. These drugs kill everything they touch. You see, this microbiome of bacteria and other microbes is essential to almost every aspect of your health – from your immune system and how much energy you have to the absorption of nutrients and even your vulnerability to depression. Now a study by epidemiologists at Harvard Medical School reveals a crucial link between your gut’s reaction to antibiotics – especially when taken during midlife and older – and a dramatic decline in cognitive ability as you age. This makes sense because your gut microflora acts like a biochemical telegraph system that sends messages along your vagus nerve directly to your brain. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against antibiotics, per se. Since the rollout of penicillin in the 1940s, and the other antibiotics that followed, these drugs have saved hundreds of millions of lives in the fight against diseases like tuberculosis, pneumonia, and diphtheria. I am against their overuse. And now there’s one more reason to stop overusing these drugs… Studying the data of more than 14,000 women from the Nurses’ Health Study project, Harvard scientists found that taking antibiotics for two months or more during midlife was “significantly” linked to poorer cognition, learning, and memory scores , as well as reduced psychomotor speed and attention.1 The researchers noted that the decline in brain power was the equivalent of losing about three or four years of normal aging. The message of the study is loud and clear – keep your antibiotic use to a bare minimum. There are still too many doctors who hand these dangerous drugs out like candies whenever a patient appears with a sore throat, cough, or a urinary tract infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 1 in 3 antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary.2 But the problem isn’t just confined to prescription antibiotics. Antibiotics are pumped into industrialized cattle and poultry to fight bacterial infections that spread through cramped feedlots and battery chicken farms. They are also sprayed onto fruit trees and industrial vegetable farms to prevent and treat infection. During spraying, the wind can carry them further afield into the water supply. 3 Simple Steps To Protect Yourself From Antibiotics Protecting yourself from the damage of antibiotics requires a three-pronged strategy… Avoid Cheap Meats: Cattle and poultry pumped full of antibiotics are now awash in our food supply. Make sure the meat you purchase is always grass-fed, pastured, and antibiotic free. Unless you know the source of the meat and the practices of the ranch or farm, the safest foods are USDA-certified organic foods. If your grocer doesn’t carry them, let them know you’ll shop elsewhere. Bulk up Your Immune System: A strong immune system is essential, not just for fighting infections – but also for fighting the effects of antibiotic use. Two of my favorite immune system boosters are: Anamu. Studies show this South American herb contains a powerful compound called dibenzyl trisulphide, which is a potent stimulator of your body’s “T helper cells.” Their job is to give other immune cells an extra boost.3 Anamu capsules are available at most health food stores. I suggest taking 500 to 1,000 mg per day in divided doses. Astragalus. This herb has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for millennia to strengthen the body’s immune defenses. Astragalus is called an “adaptogen,” meaning it helps protect the body against physical and mental stresses. I recommend 500 mg of the concentrated extract three times a day. Replace Big Pharma Meds with Natural Antibiotics: Nature has given us hundreds, if not thousands, of herbal alternatives. A few good ones are: Garlic. Research has found that garlic can be an effective treatment against many forms of bacteria, including Salmonella and E. coli. Garlic has also been shown to be effective against drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria. Honey. Multiple studies reveal honey to be a powerhouse natural antibiotic, with the ability to inhibit more than 60 kinds of bad bacteria.4 The best is raw honey and always avoid pasteurized honey products. Curcumin. This is the main ingredient in the spice turmeric, and it’s one of the cornerstones of ancient Ayurvedic medicine. Thousands of studies prove curcumin beats a long list of modern drugs, including antibiotics. A recent study found curcumin killed 100% of the MRSA superbug within 2 hours.5 To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD, CNS References: 1. Mehta RS, et al. “Association of midlife antibiotic use with subsequent cognitive function in women.” March 2022. Plos One. 17(3):e0264649. 2. “1 in 3 antibiotic prescriptions unnecessary: New CDC data show large percentage of antibiotics misused in outpatient settings.” CDC. May 3, 2016. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0503-unnecessary-prescriptions.html 3. Williams LA, et al. “A critical review of the therapeutic potential of dibenzyl trisulphide isolated from Petiveria alliacea L (guinea hen weed, anamu).” West Indian Med J. 2007 Jan;56(1):17-21. 4. Mandal MD, Mandal S. “Honey: its medicinal property and antibacterial activity.” Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. 2011 Apr;1(2):154-60. 5. Poonam Tyagi, et al. Bactericidal Activity of Curcumin I Is Associated with Damaging of Bacterial Membrane. PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0121313. To read the original article click here.

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The Difference Between Thoughts & Memories

AHA Publisher — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 07:03:05 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In this podcast (episode #420) and blog, I talk about the difference between thoughts and memories. This podcast is part 4 of my series on the different parts of the mind. As mentioned in my previous podcasts on this topic, The Difference Between the Nonconscious, Subconscious & Conscious Mind (part 1), How to Tap Into the Nonconscious Mind to Unwire Trauma & Toxic Thinking Habits (part 2), and How to Listen to & Learn from Your Mental & Physical Warning Signals (part 3), when you consciously engage the nonconscious mind through deliberate, intentional, strategic, and proactive deep thinking, you draw your thoughts, with their embedded memories, through the subconscious mind and into the conscious mind. When these thoughts arrive in the conscious mind, they’re in a malleable state, which means you can change them and reconceptualize them—you can change the way they impact your life. But what exactly is a thought? And how is it different from a memory? The mind is made up of trillions and trillions of thoughts. A thought is a real physical thing that occupies mental real estate in the brain and mind. A thought is built into the brain as you use your mind—that is, as you think, feel and choose. Thoughts are located in three different places: your brain, your mind, and the cells of your body. Inside the thought are the embedded memories—so a thought is made of memories, and there can be any number of memories, thousands even, in a thought, just as there are hundreds or even thousands of branches on a tree. For example, the thought could be that I am concerned about my family member. Within this thought, there will be hundreds or more memories related to this concern. The thought is therefore the big picture, and the details of the thought are the memories. There are three types of memories in a thought: Informational memories are all the details: particulars, facts, data, associations, links, and so on associated with that thought. These are like the branches on a thought tree. Emotional memories are the feelings associated with the information memories. These are like the leaves on the branches of a thought three. Physical memories are the physical embodiments of the sensations experienced at the time the thought was built, which are coupled with the emotional memories and informational memories. These are built into every cell of our body and are re-experienced when we recall the informational and emotional memories, because these three parts of the thought are inseparable. Thoughts are potentially limitless. Each thought is a literal universe, because each thought is made up of limitless memories. Thoughts also keep getting updated, as well as entangled with other related thoughts, like the endless root system of a sweeping forest. And your mind is always in action, which means you’re always building thoughts, and you’re always pulling up the thoughts you have built to guide and influence your next decision. The best way to understand this is to think of a thought as a tree. The thought is the big concept: the whole tree with branches, leaves, and roots. The branches and leaves are how you express your memories as your conscious thinking, feeling, and choosing, which produce your behaviors and your communication (what you are saying and doing) and all of which manifest your lifestyle choices. The tree trunk represents the subconscious level and your perspective, which includes the physical and emotional signals you experience, such as that lurch of anticipation when you hear exciting news, that sense of happiness or joy that makes you bounce out of bed, or that nagging sense of depression or anxiety that something is wrong. The subconscious connects the nonconscious to the conscious, in the same way the trunk connects the roots to the leaves and branches. The roots represent the nonconscious roots of your memories. They are the origin of the informational, emotional, and physical memories and are the level that tells us what’s going on in our lives and why we do what we do—this is the level we have to tap into to make the changes needed in our lifestyles through mind management, as I discuss in my book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess and app Neurocycle. In the same way that a planted seed forms roots, appears above ground, grows, and changes, so your thoughts grow and change over time. Once a thought is planted—the conversation you have, what you hear, what you read, and so on—its roots begin to grow. When “watered” with thinking, it grows into a little thought plant. If ignored, the thought tree dies. If, however, it gets lots of thinking energy, it will eventually get bigger and stronger. Whatever we think about the most will grow. So, at first it is a little plant, like a nagging worry or something at the back of your mind. Over time, if it’s watered with thinking, it becomes a “big tree” and can dominate and influence our behavior. The exciting thing is that you are the director and designer of this process! You shape what you have built into your mind, and you can change what is not working or what is having a negative effect in your life. Toxic thought trees like trauma and bad habits can be built and broken down and rebuilt—toxic trees aren’t your destiny. This is self-regulated mind-management: your thinking, feeling, and choosing are shaping, pruning, and building. And the more self-regulated you are, the more effective this process is and the more peace and meaning you’ll find in life! Indeed, it’s important to remember that although our thought-life is a stream of consciousness, with thousands of individual thoughts blending together, we can bring a level of order to our thinking by controlling what we allow into our mind and brain and what’s already in our mind and brain. We’re able to evaluate the individual frames of thought by self-regulating our stream of consciousness through mind management. We can harness the power of our thinking in tangible, sustainable ways! To do this, I recommend doing a Neurocycle, the scientific mind-management process I have developed and researched over the past three decades and discuss in my book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, my app Neurocycle, and in my latest clinical trials. These steps can help you learn how to reconceptualize your thinking, i.e. changing the way your thought tree and its memories look in the brain: First, calm down your brain and body by breathing deeply. I recommend breathing in for 5 counts and out for 11 counts, and repeating this technique 3 times (for around 45 seconds). Next, GATHER awareness of your warning signals, such as tension in your shoulders, indigestion or feelings of anxiety. Then, REFLECT on why you are having these feelings. Ask, answer and discuss with yourself. After this step, WRITE down what you reflected on. This will help you organize your thinking. Then, RECHECK. Look for triggers, thought patterns and “antidotes” (for example, how you would like to respond in the future and how you would like the situation to end). Lastly, practice your ACTIVE REACH. Practice using the “antidote” you came up with in the recheck step to deal with your trigger. For example, this could be as simple as practicing not raising your voice or being more aware of your body language. To read the original article click here.

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Memory Formation Influenced By How Brain Networks Develop During Youth

AHA Publisher — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 08:00:49 +0000

Northwestern University via Newswise – CHICAGO — In a new, rare study of direct brain recordings in children and adolescents, a Northwestern Medicine scientist and colleagues from Wayne State University have discovered as brains mature, the precise ways by which two key memory regions in the brain communicate make us better at forming lasting memories. The findings also suggest how brains learn to multitask with age. The study will be published Feb. 15 in Current Biology. Historically, a lack of high-resolution data from children’s brains have led to gaps in our understanding of how the developing brain forms memories. The study innovated the use of intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG) on pediatric patients to examine how brain development supports memory development. The scientists found a link between how the brains of people aged 5 to 21 were developing and how well they were able to form memories throughout that 16-year period. For example, younger children, whose brains were not as developed as the adolescent participants, weren’t able to form as many memories as some adolescents. “Our study helps us actually explain how memory develops, not just that it develops,” said corresponding author Lisa Johnson, assistant professor of medical social sciences and pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “By understanding how something comes to be — memory, in this instance — it gives us windows into why it eventually falls apart. “Human memory develops throughout childhood, peaks in your 20s and, for most people, declines with age, even in those who don’t develop dementia.” To address this, her work focuses on the lifespan of memory to provide a holistic approach to understanding brain development and memory, which is why this study focused on pediatric patients. Rhythms of Key Memory Regions of the Brain The study focused on communication between two regions of the brain that play a key role in supporting memory formation: the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and prefrontal cortex (PFC). To learn how these regions talk to one another, the scientists analyzed two brain signals — a slowly oscillating brain wave and a faster oscillating one — that enable communication between regions. The rhythms dictated whether a memory was successfully formed and differentiated top-performing adolescents from lower-performing adolescents and children. Pioneering Intracranial EEG in Pediatric Patients The participants in the study were already undergoing brain surgery for another reason (usually to treat their epilepsy), and the scientists capitalized on this rare opportunity to examine data from electrodes placed directly on the exposed surface of the brain. Following brain surgery, patients spent a week in the hospital for monitoring. This is when Johnson’s team conducted its studies, having the participants look at pictures of scenes to see how well they remembered them. The research team presented them with the same images again and new scenes they hadn’t yet seen (e.g., a different image of an outdoor area) to observe age-related differences in how well study participants remembered what they’d seen. Our Brains Learn to Multitask With Age Another novel finding in the study is that there appear to be age differences in fast and slow theta oscillations—rhythms in the brain that help with cognition, behavior, learning and memory. The slow theta frequency slows down with age, and the fast gets faster. “These rhythms seemed to diverge with age so that they were similar in 5-year-olds and different in 20-year-olds,” Johnson said. “The fact that key memory regions are interacting at both frequencies suggests how your brain is learning to multitask as you get older.” To read the original article click here.

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The Difference Between Thoughts & Memories + How to Rewire Thoughts & Heal Painful Memories

AHA Publisher — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 07:00:05 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In this podcast (#308) and blog, I am going to explain the difference between thoughts and memories, as this is a question I get a lot, and there seems to be quite a bit of confusion surrounding the topic! We experience events and circumstances all the time—this is what it means to be immersed in life. We respond and react to events all day long and sort them into experiences while we sleep. This is what I call our “mind-in-action”, which makes a product: a thought. A thought is a real physical thing made of proteins and chemicals that occupies mental real estate in the brain as a tree-like structure on our neurons, and as gravitational fields in the mind, as well as in DNA in the body. These thoughts look like trees, and, like a tree, are made of roots and branches. These are our memories—the “root” and “branch” memories. The thought itself is the concept, or the big idea. Inside the thought are the embedded memories. There can be any number of memories, thousands even, in one thought, just as there are hundreds or even thousands of branches and roots on a tree. What all this means is that a thought tree is literally built into the brain as you use your mind in response to your experiences, or in other words, as you think, feel and choose in response to life. This means we as humans literally have trillions of thoughts, and how we build them and use them to function is what we talk about as memory or thought formation. For example, the thought could be “I am concerned about a family member”. There will be hundreds or perhaps thousands of memories related to this thought. The thought is the big picture, and the details of the thought are the memories. There are three types of memories in a thought: Informational memories, which are all the details: the particulars, facts, data, associations, links, and so on associated with that thought. These are like the branches on a thought tree. Emotional memories, which are the feelings associated with the informational memories. These are like the leaves on the branches of a thought three. Physical memories, which are the physical embodiments of the sensations experienced at the time the thought was built. These are coupled with the emotional memories and informational memories. Using the analogy of a tree, the thought is the big concept: the whole tree with the branches, leaves and roots. The roots are the source, the origin; for example, the book you are reading, the conversation you are having, this podcast you are listening to, and so on. The branches and leaves are how you interpret the information from your unique perspective, and how you will use the information (how it will manifest in your communication and behavior). To read the original article click here.

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Saturated Fatty Acid Levels Increase When Making Memories

AHA Publisher — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 07:00:02 +0000

University of Queensland via EurekAlert – Saturated fatty acid levels unexpectedly rise in the brain during memory formation, according to research, opening a new avenue of investigation into how memories are made. Dr Tristan Wallis, from Professor Frederic Meunier’s laboratory at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), said traditionally, polyunsaturated fatty acids were considered important to health and memory, but this study highlighted the unexpected role of saturated fatty acids. “We tested the most common fatty acids to see how their levels changed as new memories were formed in the brain,” Dr Wallis said. “Unexpectedly, the changes of saturated fat levels in the brain cells were the most marked, especially that of myristic acid, which is found in coconut oil and butter. “In the kitchen, saturated fats are those which are solid at room temperature while unsaturated fats are normally liquid. “The brain is the fattiest organ in the body, being 60 per cent fat, which provides energy, structure and assists in passing messages between brain cells. “Fatty acids are the building blocks of lipids or fats and are vital for communication between nerve cells, because they help synaptic vesicles — microscopic sacs containing neurotransmitters–to fuse with the cell membrane and pass messages between the cells. “We have previously shown that when brain cells communicate with each other in a dish, the levels of saturated fatty acids increase.” Researchers have found that fatty acid levels in the rat brain, particularly saturated fatty acids, increase as memories are formed, but when they used a drug to block learning and memory formation in rats, the fatty acid levels did not change. The highest concentration of saturated fatty acids was found in the amygdala — the part of the brain involved in forming new memories specifically related to fear and strong emotions. Study contributor and QBI Director Professor Pankaj Sah said the work opened a new avenue on how memory was formed. “This research has huge implications on our understanding of synaptic plasticity — the change that occurs at the junctions between neurons that allow them to communicate, learn and build memories,” Professor Sah said. To read the original article click here.

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Can Sleep Protect Us from Forgetting Old Memories?

AHA Publisher — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 07:00:14 +0000

University of California – San Diego via EurekAlert – From lowering your risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease to improving your concentration and overall daily performance, sleep has been proven to play a critical role in our health. In a new study, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that sleep may also help people to learn continuously through their lifetime. Writing in the August 4, 2020 online issue of eLife, researchers used computational models capable of simulating different brain states, such as sleep and awake, to examine how sleep consolidates newly encoded memories and prevents damage to old memories. “The brain is very busy when we sleep, repeating what we have learned during the day. Sleep helps reorganize memories and presents them in the most efficient way. Our findings suggest that memories are dynamic, not static. In other words, memories, even old memories, are not final. Sleep constantly updates them,” said Maksim Bazhenov, PhD, lead author of the study and professor of medicine at UC San Diego. “We predict that during the sleep cycle, both old and new memories are spontaneously replayed, which prevents forgetting and increases recall performance.” Bazhenov said that memory replay during sleep plays a protective role against forgetting by allowing the same populations of neurons to store multiple interfering memories. “We learn many new things on a daily basis and those memories compete with old memories. To accommodate all memories, we need sleep.” For example, imagine learning how to navigate to a parking lot by going left at one stop sign and right at one traffic light. The next day, you have to learn how to get to a different parking lot using different directions. Bazhenov said sleep consolidates those memories to allow recollection of both. “When you play tennis, you have a certain muscle memory. If you then learn how to play golf, you have to learn how to move the same muscles in a different way. Sleep makes sure that learning golf does not erase how to play tennis and makes it possible for different memories to coexist in the brain,” said Bazhenov. The authors suggest that the restorative value of sleep may be what is lacking in current state-of-the-art computer systems that power self-driving cars and recognize images with performances that far exceed humans. However, these artificial intelligence systems lack the ability to learn continuously and will forget old knowledge when new information is learned. “We may need to add a sleep-like state to computer and robotic systems to prevent forgetting after new learning and to make them able to learn continuously,” said Bazhenov. Bazhenov said the study results could lead to developing new stimulation techniques during sleep to improve memory and learning. This may be particularly important in older adults or persons suffering from learning disabilities. “While sleep is certainly involved in many important brain and body functions, it may be critical for making possible what we call human intelligence — the ability to learn continuously from experience, to create new knowledge and to adapt as the world changes around us,” said Bazhenov. To read the original article click here.

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A New Discovery: How Our Memories Stabilize While We Sleep

AHA Publisher — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 07:00:14 +0000

CNRS via EurekAlert – The authors here looked more closely at what happens during delta waves themselves. They discovered, surprisingly, that the cortex is not entirely silent but that a few neurons remain active and form assemblies, i.e. small, coactive sets that code information. Scientists at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CNRS/Collège de France/INSERM)[1] have shown that delta waves emitted while we sleep are not generalized periods of silence during which the cortex rests, as has been described for decades in the scientific literature. Instead, they isolate assemblies of neurons that play an essential role in long-term memory formation. These results were published on 18 October 2019 in Science. While we sleep, the hippocampus reactivates itself spontaneously by generating activity similar to that while we are awake. It sends information to the cortex, which reacts in turn. This exchange is often followed by a period of silence called a ‘delta wave’ then by rhythmic activity called a ‘sleep spindle’. This is when the cortical circuits reorganize to form stable memories. However, the role of delta waves in the formation of new memories is still a puzzle: why does a period of silence interrupt the sequence of information exchanges between the hippocampus and the cortex, and the functional reorganisation of the cortex? Related Articles: Repairing DNA Damage Through Sleep How Memories Form and Fade The authors here looked more closely at what happens during delta waves themselves. They discovered, surprisingly, that the cortex is not entirely silent but that a few neurons remain active and form assemblies, i.e. small, coactive sets that code information. This unexpected observation suggests that the small number of neurons that activate when all the others stay quiet can carry out important calculations while protected from possible disturbances. And the discoveries from this work go even further! Spontaneous reactivations of the hippocampus determine which cortical neurons remain active during the delta waves and reveal transmission of information between the two cerebral structures. In addition, the assemblies activated during the delta waves are formed of neurons that have participated in learning a spatial memory task during the day. Together these elements suggest that these processes are involved in memory consolidation. To demonstrate it, in rats the scientists caused artificial delta waves to isolate either neurons associated with reactivations in the hippocampus, or random neurons. Result: when the right neurons were isolated, the rats managed to stabilise their memories and succeed at the spatial test the next day. These results substantially change how we understand the cortex. Delta waves are therefore a means of selectively isolating assemblies of chosen neurons, which send crucial information between the periods of hippocampo-cortical dialog and the reorganisation of cortical circuits, to form long-term memories. To read the original article click here.

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How Memories Form and Fade

The AHA! Team — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 07:00:00 +0000

California Institute of Technology via Science Daily – Researchers have identified the neural processes that make some memories fade rapidly while other memories persist over time. To read the original article click here.

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