Did you know brain transfers memories for long-term storage while we rest?
London: Our brain remains constantly at work,
even if the body is at rest. According to a study, the memories that are formed
in one part of the brain are replayed and transferred to another area of the
brain for long-term storage, even while our bodies take rest.
"We
want to understand how a healthy brain stores and accesses memories as this
will give us a window into how conditions such as Alzheimer's disease disrupt
the process," said lead researcher, Freyja Olafsdottir, research associate
at University College London, in Britain.
Replay
of previous experiences during rest is important for memory consolidation, a
process whereby the brain stabilises and preserves memories for quick recall in
the future.
The
researchers, in the paper published in Nature Neuroscience, investigated the
role of sleep in memory consolidation by simultaneously studying two areas of
the brain as the rats rested after activity.
The
findings showed that the rats re-ran memories in their minds as they rested and
10-20 times faster.
The
same replay happened almost simultaneously, with a 10-millisecond delay, in
grid cells located in a different part of the brain, suggesting that the rats'
memories transferred from one part of the brain to another.
During
rest, the team studied the responses of place cells in the hippocampus in
brain, where memories are formed, and grid cells in the entorhinal cortex,
where the memories were found to transfer to.
The
hippocampus constantly absorbs information but it seems it can't store
everything so replays the important memories for long-term storage and
transfers them to the entorhinal cortex, and possibly on to other areas of the
brain, for safekeeping and easy access.
"This
is the first time we've seen coordinated replay between two areas of the brain
known to be important for memory, suggesting a filing of memories from one area
to another," said one of the researchers Caswell Barry.
Understanding
the physiological mechanism of this is essential for tackling amnesiac
conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, where memory consolidation is affected,
the researchers said.
"The
parts of the brain we studied are some of the first regions affected in
Alzheimer's and now we know they are also involved in memory
consolidation," Olafsdottir said.
Six
rats were made to run for 30 minutes on a six metre long track before resting
for 90 minutes. Their brains were then studied to investigate memory transfer
to other areas of the brain.
Source | http://www.firstpost.com
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
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