In a recent study led by Dr. Thomas Ryan, trinity college dublin His team of neuroscientists has discovered new insights into the brain’s learning mechanisms.Research published in journals current biologyit became clear that learning involves the formation of new connectivity patterns between specific engram cells in different brain regions.
Our brains are constantly adapting and changing, taking in new information from our daily experiences. This continuous process of learning and memory formation has long intrigued scientists.
memory engram cell
Dr. Ryan’s research focuses on understanding how these experiences change our neurons and can create new memories. The key to this process is identifying “engrams,” changes in the brain that store memories.
“Memory engram cells are a group of brain cells that are activated by specific experiences and change themselves in order to take in information and thereby retain it in the brain,” said lead author and co-author of the Ryan lab. explained Clara Ortega de San Luis, a postdoctoral researcher at .
“When these memory ‘building blocks’ are reactivated, the specific experiences associated with them are recalled. The question is: how do engrams store meaningful information about the world? ”
research focus
To explore this question, the researchers employed a learning paradigm in which animals learn to identify and associate different contexts that are similar to each other.
Experts used genetic techniques to label two distinct populations of engram cells in the brain for two distinct memories. They then monitored the formation of new connections between these engram cells as learning occurred.
Optogenetics, a technique that controls brain cell activity through light, was used to demonstrate the need for these newly formed connections for learning.
New insights into learning
This study identified a molecular mechanism involving specific proteins within synapses that regulate connections between engram cells.
This study provides direct evidence that changes in synaptic wiring connections between engram cells are a likely mechanism for memory storage in the brain.
Significance of research
Commenting on the significance of these findings, Dr. Ryan said: “Understanding the cellular mechanisms that enable learning not only helps us understand how we form new memories and modify existing ones, but also how memories It also helps advance knowledge toward untangling the ways in which brains work and the mechanisms necessary to process thoughts and information. ”
“In 21st century neuroscience, many of us believe that memory is stored in engram cells or their subcomponents. This research suggests that rather than looking for information in and within cells, You should look for information in , which argues that learning may work by changing the brain’s wiring diagram, making it more like a developing sculpture than a computer. In other words: , he concluded, “The engram is not in the cell; the cell is in the engram.”
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