Ever thought that you would be able to see memories form in the brain? Well, now you can, thanks to scientists who have deployed advanced imaging techniques to discover how the brain forms memories.
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University are responsible for this groundbreaking work where a video shows molecules form memories in the brain. The scientists describe their work as "a technological tour de force never before achieved in animals."
The 26-second long video shows molecules that are vital in the creation of memories traveling through the brain of a mouse. Fluorescent molecules can be seen floating in the mouse's brain to form new memories.
"It's noteworthy that we were able to develop this mouse without having to use an artificial gene or other interventions that might have disrupted neurons and called our findings into question," said Robert Singer, the senior author of the research.
According to the scientists, this is a major breakthrough and can have major implications in the human understanding of how the brain functions. The scientists made a mouse model to gain insights into the molecules that are key players i.e. molecules of messenger RNA (mRNA) to the formation of memories. These were given fluorescent "tags" so that it would be easier to observe the mRNA as they traveled real time in the brain cells.
"We know the beta-actin mRNA we observed in these two papers was 'normal' RNA, transcribed from the mouse's naturally occurring beta-actin gene," said Dr. Singer. "And attaching green fluorescent protein to mRNA molecules did not affect the mice, which were healthy and able to reproduce."
The researchers discovered that a process called "masking" and unmasking" regulates mRNA in neurons, which enable beta-actin protein to be created in specific amounts as well as times and places.
The neurons were simulated by researchers from the mouse's hippocampus, the place where memories are stored and created. The scientists then observed the fluorescent beta-actin mRNA molecules which glowed to form in the nuclei of neurons and then travel within dendrites.
The research has been published in the journal Science. Check out below the video which shows the molecules traveling to form the memories in the brain below.
