How the brain selectively remembers new places
When you enter a room, your brain is bombarded with sensory information. If the room is a place you know well, most of this information is already stored in long-term memory. However, if the room [...]
MIT neuroscientists build case for new theory of memory formation
Learning and memory are generally thought to be composed of three major steps: encoding events into the brain network, storing the encoded information, and later retrieving it for recall.
How we recall the past
When we have a new experience, the memory of that event is stored in a neural circuit that connects several parts of the hippocampus and other brain structures. Each cluster of neurons may store [...]
Neuroscientists identify brain circuit necessary for memory formation
A new MIT study of the neural circuits that underlie this process reveals, for the first time, that memories are actually formed simultaneously in the hippocampus and the long-term storage [...]
Neuroscientists identify brain circuit that drives pleasure-inducing behavior
Scientists have long believed that the central amygdala is linked with fear and responses to unpleasant events. However, a team of MIT neuroscientists has now discovered a circuit in the central [...]
Neuroscientists identify two neuron populations that encode happy or fearful memories
Our emotional state is governed partly by a tiny brain structure known as the amygdala, which is responsible for processing positive emotions such as happiness, and negative ones such as fear and [...]
Scientists identify neurons devoted to social memory
Mice have brain cells that are dedicated to storing memories of other mice, according to a new study from MIT neuroscientists. These cells, found in a region of the hippocampus known as the [...]
“Lost” memories can be found
Neuroscientists retrieve missing memories in mice with early Alzheimer’s symptoms. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, patients are often unable to remember recent experiences. [...]
How the brain encodes time and place
Neuroscientists identify a brain circuit that is critical for forming episodic memories. When you remember a particular experience, that memory has three critical elements — what, when, and [...]
Recalling happier memories can reverse depression
Artificially reactivating positive memories could offer an alternative to traditional antidepressants. MIT neuroscientists have shown that they can cure the symptoms of depression in mice by [...]
Researchers find “lost” memories
Memories that have been “lost” as a result of amnesia can be recalled by activating brain cells with light. In a paper published today in the journal Science, researchers at MIT reveal that they [...]
Neuroscientists Reverse Memories’ Emotional Associations
Most memories have some kind of emotional association: Recalling the week you just spent at the beach probably makes you feel happy, while reflecting on being bullied provokes more negative [...]
How Mice Think
MIT research sheds light on retrieving correct memories and how animals “think” when they self-correct their on-going behaviors. Mice running mazes sometimes go left when they should go right. [...]
In the brain, timing is everything
Study reveals how the brain links memories of events that occur one after the other. Suppose you heard the sound of skidding tires, followed by a car crash. The next time you heard such a skid, [...]
Discovering hippocampal connections responsible for episodic memory
MIT neuroscientists map neural circuits involving the CA2 region of the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the region of the brain that is responsible for episodic memory. For decades, [...]
Schizophrenia linked to abnormal brain waves
Neuroscientists discover neurological hyperactivity that produces disordered thinking. Schizophrenia patients usually suffer from a breakdown of organized thought, often accompanied by delusions [...]
