Memories are not immutable, they are not stored in our brain as they were born at the moment of the experience: a study led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (USA) has demonstrated how memory is updated over time, thus influencing our daily forecasts and decisions
Memories update over timedo not remain unchanged as they were born at the moment of experience: a study guided by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (USA) has demonstrated how memory is not “fixed” at all, influencing, among other things, our daily predictions and decisions.
Notably, researchers have discovered for the first time a neural mechanism for memory integration that spans both time and personal experience, demonstrating how memories stored in the brain are constantly updated and reorganized with salient information.
The discovery could have important implications for a better understanding of adaptive memory processes (such as making causal inferences) and maladaptive processes (such as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD).
The established view is that memories are formed during initial learning and remain stable in neural ensembles over time, allowing us to remember a particular experience – explains Denise Cai, lead author of the study – Our work shows theinadequacy of this theorybecause it does not take into account how the brain can store memories and at the same time flexibly update them with new and relevant information
And it’s not just a scientific curiosity, with no real-life repercussions.
This combination of stability and flexibility within neural ensembles is critical for us to make predictions and daily decisionsand to interact with an ever-evolving world
Yes, because, after each event, the brain consolidates and stabilizes the memory by reproducing the experience. And, after a negative, our control center reproduces not only that event, but also the memories of the previous daysapparently looking for related events to link together and, thus, integrate memories over time.
The study also revealed that negative experiences drove the reactivation not only of recent adverse memory, but also of a “neutral”, however non-threatening, memory formed days earlier (a safe and different environment in which they did not receive any shock). .
We refer to this phenomenon as co-reactivation of the whole and we now know that it drives the long-term linking of memories in the brain
A step not only forward, but also in another direction.
In the discovery of a complex neural mechanism that facilitates the integration of memory – concludes the scientist – we have taken an important step in the direction of better understanding of real-world memorywhere we know that our memories are constantly updated and reshaped with subsequent experience so that we can function day to day in a dynamic world
The study was published on Nature.
Sources: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai / Nature
