French Study Focuses on New Neurons for Memory
April 29th, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Update
Whether due to age, ailment, or lack of normal use and training, many people in modern times experience problems with memory. When such problems interfere with daily functioning, and especially with social interactions, the results can take a heavy toll on outlook and self-understanding, possibly contributing to depressive or anxious thoughts. But while not all lapses in memory lead to such unfortunate consequences, they aren’t exactly positive occurrences, by any measure. As such, the quest to understanding human memory on a deeper level than previously explored is of great import for the field of psychology. To this end, a team comprised of researchers and academics from the Université Toulouse and the Université de Bordeaux have created and published an investigative study of neuron operation in memory functions, available in the recent issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study, which was carried out with laboratory mice rather than human subjects, revolved around the hypothesis that new neurons –those created within the brain in one week or less prior to a relevant event– were responsible for the encoding and recollection of spatial memory within the brain’s hippocampus. The French team set out to test the idea by first labeling such neurons within the brains of mice. The mice were then introduced to a small tub of water, the only escape from which was a submerged flat board just beneath the surface. Observing the mice during their initial cognition concerning the task, the researchers found that it was indeed the new neurons that were activated.
The mice were given the same task a month later, and the same tagged neurons were shown to participate in brain activity during the exercise. Supporting the evidence was the fact that those mice who were not able to complete the task or who had difficulty showed an absence of the tagged neurons; a sign that they had either never activated or had failed during the one month interim. While the study’s interesting implications do not immediately provide a solution to help humans improve their memories, the research presents a strong basis upon which to continue the quest to find out how, precisely, the memory works, and what makes it problematic for some of us.
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5 comments so far
I found this really interesting. I have a few qns. of my own. Is it possible that the mice which did not produce neurons failed because of hereditary reasons. I am sure that it would be difficult to determine that one. Were those mice on any medications? Was it also performing the activity at the same time each day?
Very interesting article.. Looks like there may be hope down the road to help with memory loss.
My daughter seriously thinks that I am a nut sometimes because I cannot remember a thing. She jokes that I am having my senior moments, but the problem is that I am only 40! I will do anything to try to get better- I have bought the game Brain Age and am hoping that this will help me some. But there is a part of me that is scared too, like maybe I am developing Alzheimer’s at an earlier age than usual. I have talked to my doctor about it and he does not seem very concerned at this time but it is bothersome.
What is brain age and can a game like this really help?
I’ve heard of numerous excercises you can do to increase the brain’s activity. It would be worth looking into and sometimes i wonder if meditation helps.