That three-pound chunk of flesh between your ears is the most sophisticated "computer" in the known universe. Now, researchers can finally employ one of science's most powerful tools to determine what gives rise to one of the brain's most important and intriguing abilities: memory.
For the first time, scientists were able to describe human memory processes with mathematics, according to a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. When they applied these new mathematical models, they found that different sets of genes underlie different memory processes.
"It's important to realize that memory is not a single process, but in fact it depends on several distinct cognitive processes: first information is learned, then it is stored, and later, when we want to remember, we rely on a properly functioning retrieval process," senior study author Dominique de Quervain of the University of Basel told Tech Times.
More than 1,700 adults participated in the study by performing simple memory tasks such as remembering pictures or lists of words after a period of time. However, measuring memory abilities themselves provides relatively little information on what is making those abilities possible.
"You can compare it to a car – usually you just measure top speed, but that doesn't tell you much about the mechanisms that determine the speed," said de Quervain. "Top speed depends on many factors such as the number of cylinders and force transmission and aerodynamics. So, if you can use these many factors for your analysis, you are much closer to a mechanism."
Before this work, no one knew whether the same genes and molecular mechanisms were responsible for these different processes. The researchers used insights gained from the new mathematical models to parse out which parts of people's genetic profiles are responsible for which memory processes. This brings neuroscience one step closer to fully elucidating the processes behind memory.
Understanding how memories are formed, stored and recalled is particularly important when devising treatments for memory disorders.
"We hope through a better understanding of the complex mechanisms of memory processes that we are able to develop better treatments," de Quervain said. "Of course, this is a long process, but as we learn more about specific genes and molecular mechanisms involved in distinct memory processes, perhaps we will be able to develop more targeted treatment options for memory disorders."
