Green | October 16, 2008 | 32 comments

What memories are made of

source: http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/10/memories-are-made-of-this.php

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abbym0308
As in, the actual physical creation in your brain. Researchers believe they have discovered evidence to suggest that when you experience something for the first time, like riding a bike or seeing someone's face, a certain system of neurons is activated. And then, when you see it again, it activates that same system of neurons. Fascinating stuff.
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32 comments // What memories are made of

  • GinaMiller
  • jimenagamio
  • arcticspirit
    • 0
      arcticspirit  

    • I wish they would make more headway in finding a way to prevent memory loss, or helping people who have had head injuries, and memory issues.

    • 3 years ago
  • Dmitri_Molotov
  • raquel09
  • technojames08
    • 0
      technojames08  

    • I think that the brain is amazing and how it works is unbelleveable.It's like a sponge it observes new information and you will remember it forever.

    • 3 years ago
  • KatieYeah
  • Brianayeah1
  • samer1
    • 0
      samer1  

    • Memories are physical and thats a great breakthrough in the study of humans. This could lead to many other discoveries.

    • 3 years ago
  • raeven_was_here
  • oliholmes
  • jovanny011
  • oblivious
    • 0
      oblivious  

    • forgive me for being highly critical of this article, but this only reinforces what we've known. The article mentions this as well, and we've tested and proved it with animal models as well. A strong memory (your moms face, for example) is resilient because of the increase of the amount of transmitter and the subsequent increase of NMDA receptors on that set of neurons. All in all, unless I'm missing something, and someone please let me know if I am, this isn't really new news.

    • 3 years ago
  • LiketoKnow
    • 0
      LiketoKnow  
    • oblivious:

      Oblivious, what you are missing is that most of this information was theoretical at best. In order to say something is scientifically true in most cases you need experimental evidence to back up your statement. This research provides experiment evidence, that was missing for the most part, to back up these statements. Additionally, with this new experiment evidence comes an advancement in experimental biology. Which is as big as or bigger than confirmation of hypotheses and theories. Finally, as scientists it is our duty, as new technology becomes available, to continually challenge theories. Never take things for granted. Challenge what has been established. New things can be discovered by doing such.

    • 3 years ago
  • oblivious
    • 0
      oblivious  
    • oblivious:

      What they were investigating was applied and understood by animal models before (rats, as well as primates if I remember correctly). This does count as experimental evidence in the field of neuroscience. What I concur with is that this strengthens the theory, with replication being part of the scientific method. Of course, as scientists, it is our duty to replicate studies and confirm them. However, as this information has already been confirmed in animal, and apparently human models, this story becomes nothing more than a confirmation of things known before. Consequently, as I mentioned before, it no longer is "new" news.

      But if you disagree with me, by all means please let me know. As a science nerd, I dig this stuff =)

    • 3 years ago
  • elegua
  • LizzieBuchner
  • oliholmes
  • Dmitri_Molotov
  • slorenz
    • 0
      slorenz  

    • They stick electrodes in the brain and measure the electrical response. Neurons are just a bunch of linked electrical wires with chemical responses on their ends (synapses)!

    • 3 years ago
  • sethwhitney
  • sethwhitney
  • keviar
  • DoubleHeadedEagle
  • Conniepae
    • 0
      Conniepae  

    • I call mine "Conn-igital" pictures in my mind, complete with smell-o-vision. I associate the smell of the moment with the memory.

      Everyone has memories which stay with them. I tell my granddaughters to store those pictures in their mind. I usually say, click, click. My husband knows I"m putting that moment in my memory for future reflection.

      Recently when they went to Chicago, I asked them to take pictures in their minds and describe them to me when they come home. I told them to take a deep breath and put a smell with the picture. They brought home some interesting memories.

    • 3 years ago
  • oliholmes
  • slorenz
    • 0
      slorenz  

    • This study came out in Science last month and it's a HUGE move forward in memory research. The hippocampus is an area known for processing all the sensory inputs you get every day, then it spits out a short-term memory which is encoded across all the regions of your brain's cortex for long-term memory storage. It's an amazing system which requires different neuron patterns in different regions. The memory becomes a memory by changing the "weight" of each synapse in that pattern/circuit.

    • 3 years ago
  • jkw077
    • 0
      jkw077  

    • "Proust Was A Neuroscientist" is an amazing book that discusses this subject, in addition to other topics that talk about how art was used to discover certain scientific truths we now know. It is by Jonah Lehrer, great book!

    • 3 years ago
  • BuddyP
  • lil_momma
    • 0
      lil_momma  

    • i don't know...the brain is a complicated thing with man different neurons and transmitters how can they be sure what does what...it is hard to track that

    • 3 years ago
  • mcwally
    • 0
      mcwally  

    • Instinctive recognition occurs at many levels within the human complex..its good to know that some scientists are on the right track..

    • 3 years ago
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