NOS Themes:
1. Science is collaborative.
2. Science is based on evidence.
3. Science is subject to debate and tentative.
4. Role of credibility.
6. Role of skepticism.
10. Role of motivation and curiosity.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Neuroscience of Finding Your Lost Keys
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found the differences in the brain that keep memories and current events of similar environments separate. The dentate gyrus, a sub region of the hippocampus, makes this distinction. This section of the brain stores separate files for each environment and memory. It also takes complex memories and turns them into simple representations, known as pattern separation. This is done by activating different groups of neurons in the dentate gyrus. Even though these groups of neurons are present in other parts of the brain the group in the dentate gyrus is what helps us remember things. When we recall a memory the dentate gyrus doesn't reactivate the same neurons, it uses pattern separation of distinct neurons to represent similar memories.
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It is amazing that memories are not saved exactly like we originally witnessed, but as patterns in the brain. I have always wondered how such things are able to be recalled when a person is trying to think of something. As stated in another article I found, each part of a description of an object comes from a different set of brain cells throughout different regions of the brain (http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/human-memory.htm). Encoding is the main feature of creating a memory. To encode something, a person must perceive something in their own unique way and then translate in into their brain while taking down what every sense felt at that time. Along with the hippocampus, “Experts believe that the frontal cortex, another part of the brain, is responsible for analyzing these various sensory inpouts and deciding if they’re worth remembering” (http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/human-memory.htm).
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ReplyDeleteWow, I never thought about how complex memories are. I wonder what causes a difference between short-term and long-term memory. The article I read basically talked about how synapse connections also had to do with memory and of the electrical and chemical components they are made up of.
ReplyDeleteLink:http://www.human-memory.net/brain_neurons.html