Neuroscientists from Columbia have gained unprecedented insight into how memories are formed—and what happens when that process goes haywire.
http://futurism.com/scientists-get-first-glimpse-new-memories-born/
https://archive.is/9VR7c
>Led by a team from Colombia’s Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), the study was conducted on newly generated brain cells in conscious mice. This process (of generating new neurons that integrate into existing circuits) is known as ‘adult neurogenesis.’
>Attila Losonczy, senior author on the paper and assistant professor of neuroscience, explained the significance. He asserts, “Our approach allows us to compare the activity of newborn and mature cells in the brains of behaving animals. These findings could help scientists decipher the role that adult neurogenesis plays in both health and disease.”
>The region of the brain that these researchers are focused on is known as the dentate gyrus, a small structure buried deep within the brain, making it difficult to study. This region is also one of the very few areas that is able to continue to grow new cells after birth (most brain cells are made before one is born).
>However, we don’t really understand why new cells are produced here. “One of the great unanswered questions in neuroscience is, why did nature decide to replenish cells in this region of the brain, but not others?” says Dr. Losonczy.
>Previous studies on the dentate gyrus and its cells suggested that they could be responsible for how the brain is able to differentiate between familiar yet new environments, which is a process known as pattern separation. This process is integral to your brain’s internal GPS and allows you to remember locations that look alike but are otherwise new ground.