A new study by MIT scientists shows how two proteins work to ensure that memory is encoded within minutes, according to Xinhua. The study, “also provided new hints about how problems involving these two proteins in other parts of the brain, such as the frontal cortex, could undermine cognition in those diseases.”
MIT researchers have identified the brain circuit required for observational learning, reports Xinhua. According to the study, the area involved in evaluating social information is more active when witnessing an experience and “relays information about the experience” to the region important for processing emotions.
Research by Prof. Susumu Tonegawa suggests that a specific region of the hippocampus plays a role in how memories can trigger a physical stress response, writes Fiona McMillan for Forbes. The findings, McMillan notes, are “providing new insight into the complex interplay between emotion, stress and memory.”
Prof. Li-Huei Tsai found that use of a small flickering light could prevent plaque-forming proteins in the brains of mice - a practice that has potential to combat Alzheimer’s disease. “The work offers the possibility of forestalling or even reversing the damage caused by such conditions without using a drug,” writes Helen Thomson for Nature.
Research published in Neuron may allow for the development of new treatments for disorders associated with memory loss. “It’s possible that further research on the dentate gyrus-CA3 pathway could lead to ways to restore the synapses to allow memory formation again,” Prof. Yingzi Lin told Elise Takahama for the Boston Globe.
A study by MIT scientists has identified the neurons that fire at the beginning and end of activities, which is important for initiating a routine. “This task-bracketing appears to be important for initiating a routine and then notifying the brain once it is complete,” Prof. Ann Graybiel told Xinhua.
A new study by MIT researchers shows that different types of learning correspond with different brainwave frequencies, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. The findings, “could help doctors diagnose and treat learning disabilities and cognitive diseases.”
MIT scientists have discovered that memory creation and memory recall are not connected to the same detour circuit in the brain, reports Alyssa Meyers of the Boston Globe. With this new information, the researchers plan to study how “the circuit functions in the brains of patients with early stages of Alzheimer’s,” explains Meyers.
MIT researchers have found that blocking the HDAC2 enzyme could potentially restore the memories of Alzheimer’s patients, reports Alyssa Meyers for The Boston Globe. The researchers, “pinpointed a gene called Sp3 that binds with HDAC2, which then results in the compression and subsequent deactivation of memory genes.”
Simon Makin of Scientific American writes that MIT researchers have discovered the brain uses a complimentary memory system that simultaneously creates and stores both long and short-term memories. “There is a division of labor. The hippocampus can form active memories very quickly, while the cortex takes care of long-term stability,” explains Prof. Susumu Tonegawa.
A study by MIT researcher suggests that the brain simultaneously creates long and short-term memories, reports Tim De Chant for NOVA. The findings suggest that one version “is filed away in the hippocampus, the center of short-term memories, while the other is stored in cortex, where our long-term memories reside.”
BBC News reporter James Gallagher writes that MIT researchers have found that the brain may simultaneously create short-term and long-term versions of memories. Prof. Susumu Tonegawa explains that “understanding how this happens may be relevant in brain disease patients.”
A new study by MIT researchers suggests that, contrary to previous findings, the human brain may store short-term and long-term memories at the same time, reports Andy Rosen for The Boston Globe. Rosen writes that the findings could “lead toward a better understanding of memory diseases like Alzheimer’s.”
A study by MIT researchers is providing more information about how the brain stores and processes social memories, writes Hallie Smith for Boston Magazine. Smith explains that, in the future, the findings may be applicable to autism research and therapy.
Adam Piore spotlights Prof. Earl Miller’s research into the mechanisms behind working memory in an article for Discover. “Earl is kind of a rock star,” says Prof. Brad Postle of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “When he says something, a lot more people notice it.”