How do we remember memories?

Why can't dementia patients remember their names and addresses, but can they remember how to hold a fork? That's because memories are formed in different circumstances, said Fred Helmstetter, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee (UWM). Remember what is not the same as remember.

Decoding the process of forming memories in the brain

'Different' circuits 'in the brain are activated when you remember what you ate during breakfast as well as when you recall you fell on a bicycle when you were in 2nd grade ', said Helmstetter, who studies things adjust memories, emotions and learning, tell.

And it is these particular relationships in the brain communication system that distinguish between 'cognitive ' (conscious) memories and unconscious memories , one of which is called by Helmstetter. is ' emotional memory.'

The memory being formed: the image of a nerve cell responding to information to store memories in the brain

Selection is one of the many aspects of memory that interests him and it is an important factor in his research on the brain's specific activity, the process that is responsible for doing it for you. be aware of what you have learned or remember.

Analyzing these mechanisms behind emotional memories is important because the brain region that controls this memory also controls fear and anxiety. That's why an emotional memory , such as a grieving car accident, can activate the autonomic nervous system, causing body reactions such as rapid heartbeat, excessive sweating. and high blood pressure - even if you don't recognize them.

Therefore, this study has many implications for many other diseases, from Alzheimer's disease to anxiety disorders.

Mr. Helmstetter believes that elucidating the differences between different types of memories depends on understanding the chemical changes taking place in the brain at the molecular level.

Helmstetter's work showed how memories are stored in certain neurons . Now he wants to know more about the molecules involved, molecules that make the whole system of brain memory connections constantly change.

Once these thoughts occur regularly and stably, the adult brain acts in the opposite direction - continuously forming or disrupting neurological connections and developing new cells.

This happens automatically when you exercise, take medicine or recover from certain diseases. But this process also occurs when thinking: The brain reproduces communication paths and genetic guidelines in response to events that occur.

'When you learn something for the first time, like learning to ride a bicycle, there is a real physical change in your brain - cells that make proteins, proteins that cells previously had not created yet. '

The ability of the brain to have continual mutations called neuroplasticity (neuroplasticity) makes monitoring the ' vascular ' system in the brain behind memory a task almost as natural. epic because there are hundreds of changes going on.

For example, consider this case, many processes of memory formation and memory storage take place at the same time, some are conscious and some are unconscious. And, during a time when something is saved to memory, hundreds of other things are being stored or may have been stored in memory.

A message between two neurons is more like an email exchanged between one person and the other than a listserv (a program that automatically sends messages to multiple addresses in the mailing list available). It does not produce a total response in the brain's processing system.

Does it sound complicated?'That's right, ' said Helmstetter. 'Flexible neurological mechanism cannot be measured functionally.'

So how can scientists study in such cases? Professor Helmstetter admits that it is impossible to find all the modifications of the nerves, which adjust each new state. So he combined many methods together.

A ' weapon' in his research arsenal is a photographic technique that produces 3-D images, capturing parts of the human brain, parts of the brain that are active in the process of formation or memory. memories. By using fMRI functional magnetic resonance imaging , Helmstetter can sketch the principle of flexible neuronal mechanisms because this technique allows him to actually see, over time. In fact, places where cells are more active and use more energy.

But since it is still not possible to observe which genes are active and inactive while humans recall memories, the professor takes the next best step: He studies what happens in mice. He also simplified further experiments by modifying the expression of the entire family of genes.

"We prevent the entire genome from being involved in the development of development memories, rather than studying each gene as well as expressing one of it , " he said.

The results from the mouse were then compared with the information obtained from the photographic memory technique in the above person, to see if there was any correlation. And Professor Helmstetter said that in both bodies the memory circuit system is the same.

But more importantly, he discovered the exact role that genes and proteins express in the brain in response to stimuli because genes are also affected by the environment.

What Professor Helmstetter discovered showed that he was on the right track. Memory retention is a time-dependent effort.The process of making memories requires a set of genes to be expressed or started to be expressed at that time.

'We are now studying the relationship between time and structure, ' he said. 'And we focus on a set of proteins that seem to be needed in some parts of the brain as soon as some important event happens to us. "