It is known that our brains, and specifically brain cells, store memories. But a team of researchers has discovered that memories don’t just reside in the brain: cells in other parts of the body can also perform a memory function, opening up new ways to understand how memory works and creating possibilities for improving learning and treatment of memory disorders.
“Learning and memory are generally associated only with the brain and brain cells, but our study shows that other cells in the body can also learn and form memories,” explains Nikolay V. Kukushkin, the study’s lead author, from the New York University York (USA).
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
It seems memories don’t just reside in the brain
The research set out to understand whether non-brain cells also aid memory by applying a well-known neurological principle, the spaced-interval learning effect, which suggests that we retain information better when we study it at intervals rather than one time. one-time intensive session.
In the study, the scientists replicated the learning process over time by examining two types of non-brain human cells in a laboratory (one from nerve tissue and one from kidney tissue) and exposing them to various patterns of chemical signals, just as brain cells are exposed to patterns of neurotransmitters when we learn new information. In response, the non-brain cells turned on a “memory gene,” the same gene that brain cells turn on when they detect a pattern of information and restructure their connections to form memories.
To monitor the memory and learning process, the researchers genetically modified these non-brain cells to produce a light-emitting protein that indicated when the memory gene was activated.
The results showed that memories don’t just reside in the brain, with these cells able to recognize when chemical impulses, which mimicked bursts of neurotransmitters in the brain, were repeated, not just prolonged, just as neurons in our brains can detect when we learn with pauses instead of to accumulate all the information at once. Specifically, when the pulses were delivered at spaced intervals, they activated the memory gene more strongly and for a longer duration than when the treatment was applied only once.
The key to better learning
“This is the spaced-out effect in action. It shows that the ability to learn through spaced repetition is not unique to brain cells, but may be a fundamental property of all cells,” says Kukushkin, associate professor of life sciences at NYU Liberal Studies and researcher at NYU’s Center for Neural Sciences.
The researchers add that these findings not only provide new ways to study memory, but also point to potential health benefits.
“This discovery opens up new perspectives for understanding how memory works and could lead to methods for improving learning and treating memory problems. At the same time, it suggests that in the future we will have to treat the body more like the brain; for example, consider what our pancreas remembers about previous meal patterns to maintain healthy blood glucose levels, or what a cancer cell remembers about chemotherapy treatments,” notes Kukushkin, Eurek Alert quote.
We recommend you also read:
Researchers have designed a 3D bioprinter to create human tissues
Renovating your kitchen could reduce indoor air pollution
The keto diet may one day treat autoimmune disorders
Physical exercises that quell hunger! What did a new study reveal?
Source: www.descopera.ro
