Why Memory Manipulation Might Be One of Humanity’s Best Innovations

New scientist. Our website and magazine feature science news and long reads by expert journalists covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment.

I vividly remember the moment my late lab partner, Xu Liu, and I first met.
Illuminated, it felt as if the neurons responsible for some of our memories were breathing life into those thoughts again. We stimulated groups of neurons in the hippocampus of mice, positing that these neurons serve as the physical foundation of memories, or engrams. Little did we realize, we were delving into one of neuroscience’s most thrilling frontiers: the potential to modify memories themselves.

The term “memory manipulation” might evoke unsettling imagery of erased histories and deceitful implants. However, within the lab, the reality is much more serene and optimistic. The very discovery that enables us to activate or deactivate memories in mice is also guiding us on how to heal our brains, including methods for diminishing trauma
memory and enhancing the fading
elements, allowing us to rebalance the emotions associated with our memories
we carry.

Over the last decade, this research has unveiled three significant principles. First, memories are adaptable during their storage, recall, and restoration. Second, they are situated across various regions in the brain rather than being localized to one area. Finally, memories can be artificially implanted within the brain. Each principle reshapes our understanding of what “memory editing” signifies.

During memory formation, brain cells collaborate and strengthen their connections. This process can be either enhanced or hindered by varying stimulation patterns. Brain stimulation through implanted electrodes or magnetic pulses can facilitate navigation in a
virtual environment. Substances like medications, hormones, and even tiny amounts of sugar can bolster the brain’s ability to stabilize new experiences. Moreover, exercise promotes the development of new neurons, thereby enhancing the health of the hippocampus and the brain overall
body. Conversely, overstimulation of memory circuits may lead to a decline in memory strength
leading to degradation; inhibiting the molecules that fortify these connections can weaken them further.

Memories can also be altered at the moment of recollection, temporarily rendering them unstable, thus creating opportunities to adjust them before they are stored once more. Therapists are already utilizing this “window of reintegration” in assisting individuals grappling with phobias and trauma. In our studies involving animals, the repeated reactivation of distressing memories is enough to
dull their emotional impact. Additionally, reactivating positive memories during periods of stress can completely overshadow negative emotions. In one
rat study, a week of “positive memory reactivation” alleviated depression-like symptoms for over a month.

Given that memories are distributed throughout the brain, they are highly resilient. Damage to a specific region will likely not erase the entire experience; instead, the brain finds alternative pathways to access memories through
multiple “drafts”. This redundancy provides hope for treating Alzheimer’s disease. If we can reinforce the pathways to the intact memories, we might restore fragments of our identity previously deemed lost. Thus, memory manipulation isn’t about altering who we are; it’s about forging new pathways back to our true selves.

Like any significant medical development, from pacemakers to transplants, this concept raises ethical considerations. Our aim is to alleviate suffering to improve overall well-being. It’s about assisting veterans in easing the grip of flashbacks, aiding individuals in recovery to dissociate cravings from triggers, and helping those with Alzheimer’s to grasp the names of loved ones.

Learning to reshape memories responsibly can foster healing. Each time a memory is revisited, the brain is already in editing mode. Today’s science is just beginning to uncover the rules guiding this process. As I recall fleeting memories with Xu, I envision not science fiction, but a future in which scientific knowledge and memory converge to become foundational to mental health.


Steve Ramirez. I am the author of How to change your memory: One neuroscientist’s quest to change the past.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Memory Chips Just 10 Atoms Thick Could Boost Capacity Significantly

Current silicon chips are highly compact, but using ultrathin 2D materials could enhance their density even further.

Wu Kailiang/Alamy

A memory chip with a thickness of just 10 atoms could revolutionize the storage capacity of electronic gadgets like smartphones.

Despite decades of scaling down, modern computer chips often have very few components yet integrate tens of billions of transistors into an area comparable to a fingernail. Although the size of silicon components has significantly decreased, the thickness of the silicon wafers remains considerable, imposing limitations on increasing a chip’s complexity through stacking layers.

Researchers have been exploring the potential of thinner chips made from 2D materials like graphene. Graphene consists of a single layer of carbon atoms and represents the thinnest known material. However, until recently, only basic chip designs could be implemented with these materials, complicating their connection to traditional processors and integration into electrical devices.

Recently, Liu Chunsen and his team from Fudan University in Shanghai successfully integrated a 2D chip only 10 atoms thick with a CMOS chip currently utilized in computers. The manufacturing method for these chips yields a rough surface, making it challenging to layer a 2D sheet on top. The researchers addressed this issue by placing a glass layer between the 2D and CMOS chips, although this step is not yet part of the industrial process and requires further development for mass production.

The prototype memory module the team created achieved over 93% accuracy during testing. While this falls short of the reliability needed for consumer-grade devices, it serves as an encouraging proof of concept.

“This technology holds significant promise, but there’s still a considerable journey ahead before it can be commercialized,” says Steve Furber from the University of Manchester, UK.

Kai Shu, a researcher at King’s College London, mentions that further reducing current chip designs without utilizing 2D materials poses challenges due to signal leakage associated with traditional components made at very narrow widths. Thinner layers might mitigate this issue. Consequently, achieving greater thinness may facilitate additional reductions in width.

“Silicon is encountering hurdles,” said Xu. “2D materials might provide solutions. With their minimal thickness, gate control becomes more uniform and comprehensive, resulting in reduced leakage.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Lung Inflammation May Increase Memory Retention of Traumatic Events

Airway inflammation can arise from smoking or air pollution exposure

Lysenko Andrii/Shutterstock

Severe airway inflammation hampers the ability of mice to discern when dangerous situations are no longer a threat, indicating that lung conditions may influence emotions and behaviors. This connection between lung health and brain function could clarify why a small number of individuals who undergo trauma develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“While many people encounter trauma, only 5-10% ultimately develop PTSD,” explains Renu Sah from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Prior research has indicated that lung inflammation might be a contributing factor. For instance, individuals with PTSD are approximately eight times more likely to have asthma.

Sah and her team delved deeper into the correlation by observing eight mice exhibiting severe asthma-like symptoms. Their lungs were exposed to mites, inducing an allergic response and subsequent inflammation. Three days afterward, the mice were placed in cages and subjected to three mild electric shocks.

Over the subsequent six days, researchers returned the mice to the cage for five minutes daily, monitoring the duration they stood frozen in fear. On average, these mice were immobilized for about 40% of the final session, which was twice as long compared to another group of 11 mice without lung inflammation who faced the same electrocution.

The two groups did not exhibit differences in fear response the day after the shocks. However, the first group’s prolonged fear response after several days suggests that significant airway inflammation hampers the brain’s ability to recognize when a threat has subsided. “In PTSD patients, this process is dysfunctional, leading to persistent fear memories,” Sah elucidates.

The experiment was replicated with another set of mice experiencing severe lung inflammation, but this time, a medication inhibiting an inflammatory molecule called interleukin-17a was administered. During their final session in the previously shocked cage, these mice displayed about half the freezing response of those that did not receive the medication.

Further analysis revealed that immune cells in brain regions known as subcutaneous organs have receptors for this inflammatory molecule. Unlike most brain areas, subcutaneous organs lack a blood-brain barrier, a protective layer that limits substance exchange between blood and neurons. Consequently, it serves as a “window to the brain,” allowing it to monitor bodily changes and respond accordingly, according to Sah.

The team discovered that immune cells in this region sense inflammatory signals from the lungs, activating adjacent neurons that relay information to the cerebral cortex, a brain region associated with threat recognition.

Using a specialized compound known as chemogenetics, researchers inhibited this signaling pathway in mice with severe lung inflammation, resulting in a notable decrease in their freezing behavior post-shock.

“In essence, severe lung inflammation can impact higher cognitive functions and the ability to navigate traumatic experiences,” asserts Sah. She posits that similar pathways likely exist in humans, as the brain circuits regulating fear are comparable across species.

Other studies suggest that chronic psychological stress diminishes immune responses. Sah speculates that a heightened immune response, in turn, impairs cognitive functions such as the recognition of a threat’s resolution, possibly due to the body reallocating resources from the brain to combat lung issues.

“This research is crucial for understanding the connection between the body and mind,” states Douglas Vanderbilt from Los Angeles Children’s Hospital. He further discusses how his research indicated that children with severe asthma exhibit more pronounced PTSD symptoms. “What we’re uncovering suggests that these brain-body interactions are intricate, so this is likely not the only pathway,” he notes, pointing out that psychological stress from asthma attacks could also influence PTSD risk.

Sah emphasizes that this pathway might vary in women, as only male mice were utilized in her study, suggesting potential differences across genders that warrant additional investigation.

Ultimately, these discoveries may enhance our ability to identify individuals more susceptible to PTSD. For instance, medical professionals might consider screening children with severe asthma for mental health issues, as proposed by Vanderbilt. He further suggests that this line of research could lead to innovative PTSD treatments, such as immunotherapy aimed at reducing inflammation.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Animal Studies Indicate That Memory Evolves Across Neurons Over Time

New research by neurobiologists at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign reveals that the brain’s internal GPS changes as individuals navigate familiar environments. These findings shed light on the essential mystery of how the brain encodes and retains spatial memories, influencing scientists’ perspectives on memory, learning, and even aging.

Memories navigating familiar paths are more fluid than previously thought and activate different neurons on each journey. Image credit: Zeinab vessel.

“Our study confirms that the spatial memories in the brain are not fixed but rather dynamic,” stated Professor Daniel Dombeck from Northwestern University.

“You can’t simply point to a specific group of neurons and claim that their memories are located there.”

“We are uncovering the fact that memories shift between neurons over time.”

“The same experience triggers different neurons each time. It’s not an abrupt change; it evolves gradually.”

The hippocampus, situated deep within the temporal lobe, is integral for storing memories related to spatial navigation.

For many years, neurobiologists believed that the same hippocampal neurons encoded the same memory in a consistent location.

This led to the assumption that a person’s route from the bedroom to the kitchen would activate identical neuron sequences during a midnight quest for water.

However, about a decade ago, researchers studied the brains of mice traversing a maze.

Despite running through the identical maze daily, different neurons fired with each run, prompting scientists to question whether this outcome was an anomaly. Perhaps the mice’s experiences were affected by subtle environmental cues.

To delve deeper into these inquiries, Professor Dombeck and his team devised an experiment that meticulously controlled mouse sensory input.

The mice navigated a virtual maze on a treadmill, allowing precise measurements of their speed.

The maze was presented through a multisensory virtual reality platform developed by the researchers.

This setup ensured that the mice experienced the same visual stimuli and odors during all sessions, minimizing environmental variability.

After conducting multiple trials, the results indicated a different set of neurons activated each time, even in the highly controlled virtual setting.

This revelation confirms that the brain’s spatial mapping is inherently dynamic, constantly adapting, even in supposedly stable settings.

“Our findings suggest that memory is fluid,” commented Jason Climer, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“This ties into a broader question regarding modern AI and why the brain can learn and adapt in ways machines struggle with.”

“It may also be linked to natural forgetting, which is often overlooked but essential for healthy memory function.”

While there were few discernible patterns throughout the experiment, one consistent observation emerged. The more excitable neurons were more successfully activated, leading to stable spatial memory across multiple sessions in the virtual mazes.

Given that neuronal excitability diminishes with age, this finding aids in understanding how aging and related diseases impact the brain’s ability to form new memories.

“The small clusters of stable neurons are unique, and gaining insights into what makes them special could pave the way for new treatments for memory disorders,” stated Professor Climer.

“Memory impairment is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease and presents significant challenges for individuals with various neuropsychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia.”

“By deepening our understanding of fundamental memory aspects, like temporal changes highlighted in our study, we can identify new targets for understanding brain differences in these patients and develop new treatment strategies.”

“Learning about how the brain deals with memory challenges can also inform improvements in computers and AI.”

Survey results were published in the journal on July 23, 2025, in Nature.

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JR Climer et al. The hippocampus expression drifts in a stable, multisensory environment. Nature Published online on July 23, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09245-y

Source: www.sci.news

New Challenge: Enhance Your Memory Skills


Challenging Worlds

From shimmering sapphire waterfalls to rain made of lava, these distant planets redefine the boundaries of possibility. Discover ten exoplanets that are overturning the Cosmic Rulebook.

Surgical Scratches No More

While still in the womb, we all have the ability to heal without scars… yet we’ve never experienced birth. Outside the uterus, healing comes at the cost of scars, which serve as painful reminders of past injuries. Currently, researchers are exploring methods for achieving scar-free healing.

Ancestral Journeys

Our forebears encountered and mingled with more diverse groups than previously thought during their migrations from Africa. As Homo sapiens spread across the globe, they explored more broadly than earlier estimates indicated. Recent findings are painting a richer, more complex picture of our early human history.

Hearing Loss and Dementia

Research is increasingly highlighting potential connections between hearing loss and dementia. Addressing hearing loss can bring significant advantages, delving into how it influences the risk of dementia development.

Additionally

  • Gene-Edited Foods: GMO pork has been approved in the U.S. Here’s what you need to understand.
  • Strategies for Longevity: From intermittent fasting to low-protein diets, emerging research is shedding light on dietary restrictions as pivotal to a longer life.
  • Q&A: Your questions answered! This month: Why do dogs enjoy playing with trash? Should I try a banana facial? How much of our lives do we spend blinking? What will the future of space exploration look like? Can anything on Earth endure conditions like those on Mars? What’s the most unusual satellite in the universe? How do you determine when to move on from past aspirations? Why is there an increase in ADHD diagnoses among women nearing menopause? And more…

Issue 422 Launching Tuesday, July 29th, 2025

Don’t forget that BBC Science Focus is also available on all major digital platforms. You can find it on Android, Kindle Fire and Kindle e-readers, as well as on the iOS App for iPad and iPhone.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

A Study of 10,000 Individuals Reveals Strategies for Safeguarding Memory in Middle Age

A favorable perspective on life may safeguard against memory loss during middle age, as indicated by a recent 16-year study conducted by researchers from the UK, the US, and Spain.

Published in Aging and Mental Health, this study posits that a sense of happiness—which encompasses joy, confidence, purpose, and control over one’s life—is closely linked to improved memory recall.

Participants who rated their happiness levels higher tended to excel in memory assessments, regardless of whether they reported experiencing symptoms of depression.

“This study marks a vital advance in comprehending the relationship between happiness and memory over time,” stated the co-authors. Professor Joshua Stott, a Professor of Aging and Clinical Psychology at University College London, added, “It sheds new light on how self-reported happiness correlates with memory and vice versa.”

Researchers monitored 10,760 men and women over the age of 50 in the UK. Beginning in 2002, participants convened with the research team every two years to undergo memory evaluations.

During each session, they also completed a well-being survey, responding to prompts such as “I can do what I want to do” and “I feel that life is filled with opportunities.”

After 16 years, this data was examined by a team of 15 specialists to establish connections between cognition and memory.

“In light of an aging population, it’s vital to understand the factors that may protect and sustain healthy cognitive functions for the betterment of public health and policy development,” said Dr. Amber John, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Liverpool.

She noted that the study implies that overall well-being is more beneficial than merely better memory. If future research can demonstrate that improved health leads to Enhanced Memory, then prioritizing health could shield the brain from future deterioration.

Dementia and anxiety are commonly considered to accelerate cognitive decline in individuals with dementia. – Credit: J Studio via Getty

This study received partial funding from Alzheimer’s Disease Research UK. “We’ve observed significant financial support,” stated Emma Taylor, information services manager for the charity.

“It’s never too late to take measures to maintain our brain health throughout our lives and mitigate the devastating impacts of dementia.”

The authors of the study suggested that a decrease in psychological well-being could serve as an early indicator of potential cognitive decline, recommending strategies such as mindfulness as interventions to avert this trajectory.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Unlocking Your Creativity: Insights from Your Memory

While creative thinking may seem entirely novel, recent studies indicate that our imagination is intricately linked to memory more than we realize.

The latest research reveals that individuals who can recall small, seemingly trivial details excel in generating creative ideas.

“This indicates that creative thinkers perceive and interpret the world in a unique way,” stated Dr. Felix Chan, an assistant professor at the University of Birmingham. BBC Science Focus. Chan was not part of this study.

“They might follow the same narrative, but they retain elements that most people overlook as insignificant.”

In this investigation, 220 participants listened to one of four audio narratives, which varied from Hitchcock’s thrillers to true crime, romance, and fantasy. Throughout the listening process, researchers monitored participants’ brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Afterwards, participants were prompted to recall the story and devise their own alternative endings. These creative outcomes were evaluated by four independent judges trained in storytelling.

Ultimately, researchers found that certain participants (those who remembered details not central to the plot) received higher ratings for their original, imaginative story endings.

Brain scans supported these findings. Specifically, creative thinkers exhibited distinctive activity in the emotionally engaged region of the brain (the anterior cingulate cortex), along with robust and sustained activity in the hippocampus, the brain’s center for memory, particularly during the less pivotal segments of the story.

This suggests that creativity may stem from reconfiguring memories, implying that new ideas are often built upon previous recollections.

“This is an exceptionally creative exploration of creativity,” Chan concluded. “Researchers aimed to uncover how our brains are capable of producing original thoughts. Essentially, what elements in our brains fuel our imagination.”

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About our experts

Dr. Felix Chan is a neuroscientist specializing in training to comprehend brain activity and function. His expertise lies in understanding what energizes our brains and how this translates into cognitive activity. He figuratively understands “food for thought.” Currently, he serves as an associate professor of pharmacology at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Pharmacy, University of Birmingham.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Potential long-term consequences of measles: immune system memory loss and encephalitis

Measles is not just a rash and fever.

The outbreak of the disease in West Texas has sent 29 people, most of them, to hospitals, as they continue to grow. Two people have died, including a six-year-old child.

It remains to be seen how many people have become ill in the outbreak. There have been at least 223 confirmed cases, but experts believe hundreds more people may have been infected since late January. As public health officials try to slow the spread of the highly contagious virus, some experts are worried about long-term complications.

Measles is different from other childhood viruses that come and go. In severe cases, it can cause pneumonia. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in 1,000 patients develop encephalitis or encephalitis or encephalitis, with one or two deaths in 1,000 people.

This virus can wipe out the immune system, a complication known as “immune amnesia.”

When you get sick with a virus or bacteria, the immune system has the ability to form memories that can quickly recognize and respond to pathogens if they are encountered again.

Measles targets cells in the body, such as plasma cells and memory cells, and contains their immunological memory, and destroys some of them in the process.

“No one can escape this,” said Dr. Michael Mina, a vaccine expert and a former professor of epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.

In a 2019 survey, Mina and his team discovered that measles infections can be wrecked from anywhere 11% to 73% of human antibody stockpiledepends on how serious the infection is. This means that if people had 100 antibodies to Chicken Pox before they developed measles, they would be left at just 50 after measles infection, potentially catching them and getting sick.

Iwasakimon, professor of immunology at Yale University School of Medicine, said: You forget who the enemy is. ”

Virtually everyone who contracts measles weakens the immune system, but some are hit harder than others.

“There's no world where you get measles and it won't destroy some [immunity]He said. “The problem is that it will destroy enough to have clinical impact.”

In a previous study in 2015, Mina presumed that the virus was a virus before vaccination, when measles was common It may be related to half of childhood deaths due to infectionmainly from other diseases such as pneumonia, sepsis, diarrheal diseases, meningitis.

Researchers found that after measles infection, the immune system was suppressed almost immediately and remained intact for two to three years.

“Immune amnesia begins as soon as the virus replicates in them [memory] Cells,” Mina said.

The best protection against serious complications is the measles vaccine. Two doses of the vaccine are 97% effective in preventing infection.

What is “immune amnesia”?

Our bodies are constantly exposed to a variety of bacteria and viruses in our environment. Over time, our immune system learns to remember a particular intruder and can take action immediately if we find something that doesn't belong to our body.

“Children are in contact with all sorts of microorganisms, and most of those encounters have not led to illness,” said Dr. Adam Ratner, pediatrician and director of the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at NYU Langone Health. “Children often recover and have memories, so if they see the same strain of the virus that causes diarrhea, they will be the second disease they are exposed to.”

With immune amnesia, he said that if people are exposed to strains of the same virus again, their bodies will act as if it was the first time they had it and they don&#39t have that robust protection.

This means that the measles virus can destroy the immunity that people have accumulated over time, such as pneumonia, colds, flu, bacteria, and more that can cause other pathogens.

Mina elicited a comparison with HIV, saying that the level of immunosuppression in severe measles infection can be compared to HIV that has not been treated for years. However, he warned that HIV affects various parts of the immune system, and that people&#39s immune systems can ultimately recover from measles.

How does measles destroy the immune system?

Highly contagious viruses can destroy long-lived plasma cells that are present in the bone marrow and are essential to the immune system. Cells are like factories that expel antibodies to protect us from intruders entering our bodies.

“It&#39s almost like bombing a sacred city,” Mina said.

Measles also targets cells in our body, called memory cells. This is a cell that remembers what intruders look like, allowing the immune system to quickly identify and fight them in the future.

When you breathe a virus, it is enveloped in cells called macrophages. Macrophages function as “trojan horses” to collect viruses in lymph nodes, Iwasaki said.

Once there, the virus can bind and destroy these memory cells, wiping away some of our built-in immunity in the process.

“one time [memory cells] As it is excluded, we basically no longer have any memory of those specific pathogens, so we are more susceptible to most infectious diseases that are unrelated to measles,” Iwasaki said.

Will the immune system recover?

The way your body begins to regain immune memory after being surrounded by measles is to be exposed to other viruses and bacteria, get sick again, and boost your immune system.

Such immunity can be relearned, but University of Pennsylvania immunologist John Welley says that while such immunity can be relearned, he is particularly susceptible to other infectious diseases.

“As every parent of a daycare child knows, if you&#39’re building a lot of immunity at the time, you’re suffering through it,” Welley said.

Mina relearned our immunity and compared it to why babies seem to get sick frequently.

“The illness a baby gets is not because the baby is more vulnerable, because they don&#39t have the same immunological memory set yet,” he said. “They have to spend several years accumulating it through exposure, which is kind of what people experience after measles.”

How Measles Causes Brain Inflammation

What&#39s even more frightening is an untreated measles complication called subacute sclerosing pan encephalitis (SSPE), a brain disease that can occur for more than a decade, which is fatal after someone recovers from an infection.

For poorly understood reasons, the measles virus can cause persistent infections and lead to brain damage, leading to cognitive decline, coma, and death.

Researchers believe that SSPE was once considered rare, but is more common than realization. a Review of measles cases in California From 1998 to 2015, SSPE cases were found to occur at a higher rate than expected among children who were not vaccinated.

Dr. Bessie Gibberge, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Northwest Medicine, said the disease is progressive and symptoms occur at normal stages.

“It can start with just a change in personality and a change in behavior,” she said. In children, it can be as subtle as worse performance in school.

The disease then progresses and can eventually lead to seizures and abnormal movements, Siebarghese said. Finally, parts of the brain that regulate vital signs such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure can be damaged and can lead to death.

There is no cure for this disease and is almost always fatal. Patients usually survive 1-3 years after diagnosis. In the US, there are usually four to five cases each year, which can be underestimated, says Ratner of Nyu Langone Health.

“It’s probably more common than we think because it’s not always diagnosed,” he said. “But as these outbreaks become more common, I think we will clearly see more cases of SSPE.”

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Basic memory allows a blob of jelly to play Pong

Pong is a simple video game

Interphoto/Alamy

Inanimate blobs of ion-laden jelly can play computer games Pong And it will continue to improve over time: The researchers are planning further experiments to see if it can handle more complex calculations, and hope that it could eventually be used to control robots.

Inspired by past research into playing with brain cells in a dish Pong, Vincent Strong So he and his colleagues at the University of Reading in the UK decided to try a tennis-like game with simpler materials. They mixed ions into a water-filled polymer material so that it responded to electrical stimuli. When an electric current was passed through the material, those ions migrated to the current source, dragging water with them and causing the gel to swell.

In their experiments, the researchers used a standard computer to Pong They then used a 3 x 3 electrode grid to send electric currents to different points in the hydrogel to simulate ball movement, while a second electrode grid measured the concentration of ions in the hydrogel, which a computer interpreted as instructions for where to move the paddle.

The researchers found that not only was the hydrogel playable, but that with practice, accuracy improved by up to 10 percent and rallies also lasted longer.

The hydrogel expands faster than it contracts, and expands more slowly even when a constant electric current is applied.These properties allow the gel to record signals of expansion, creating a sort of rudimentary memory, the researchers say.

“Instead of just knowing what happened moment by moment, it's remembering the movement of the ball throughout the entire game,” Strong said, “so it's not just experiencing where the ball is right now, but the entire movement of the ball. It's like a black-box neural network that remembers how the ball behaves, how it moves, what it's doing.”

A polymer gel sandwiched between electrodes that deliver electrical current and measure ion levels

Vincent Strong et al. 2024

Strong said that while the hydrogel is much simpler than neurons in the brain, experiments have shown it can perform similar tasks. He believes the hydrogel could be used to develop new algorithms that would allow regular computers to perform tasks with minimal resources, making problem solving more efficient. But the hydrogel could also become an analog computer itself.

“I wouldn't rule out putting something like a hydrogel inside a robot brain,” Strong says. “That sounds interesting, and I'd like to see it. But the practicality of that is… I don't know yet.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Fruit bats demonstrate episodic memory and mental time travel capabilities, study reveals

Episodic memory and mental time travel have been considered uniquely human traits. This view has begun to change with the development of behavioral criteria to assess what is called episodic memory in animals. Key findings range from evidence of “what, where, when” memory in jays, mice and bees to episodic memory and future-oriented behavior in wild, free-foraging animals. In a new study, scientists investigated episodic memory and future-oriented behavior in wild, free-foraging animals. Egyptian fruit bat (Rusetus aegyptiacus)The team found that fruit bats rely on mental time maps to display future-oriented behaviour when foraging, and that time-mapping ability requires experience and is lacking in inexperienced bats.

Egyptian fruit bat (Rusetus aegyptiacus) track tree phenology and estimate fruit availability since their previous visit. Bats exhibit future-oriented behavior, flying to trees rich in specific proteins, while flying past many familiar sugar-rich trees. Young bats must learn tree phenology through experience. Image courtesy of Harten others., doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.046.

“For many years, the cognitive abilities to recall and plan personal experiences (episodic memory) have been thought to be uniquely human,” Tel Aviv University.

“However, a growing body of research suggests that various animals also have such abilities, although nearly all of these studies have been carried out in laboratory settings, as field studies on this issue are difficult to conduct.”

“To test these capabilities in wildlife, we designed a unique experiment using a wild colony of flying foxes.”

The researchers surmised that bats that depend on fruit trees for survival need to develop the ability to track food availability both spatially (where are the fruit trees?) and temporally (when does each tree bear fruit?).

As you navigate a landscape with numerous fruit and nectar trees, you'll need to mentally keep track of resources in order to revisit them at the right time.

To test this hypothesis, they fitted each bat with a small, high-resolution GPS tracker, allowing them to record their flight routes and the trees they visited over several months.

The vast amount of data collected in this way was thoroughly analyzed, yielding surprising results.

“Our first research question was: do bats form mental maps of time?” says Dr Lee Harten from Tel Aviv University.

“To investigate this issue, we confined bats to their colonies for various periods of time, ranging from one day to a week.”

“We wanted to see if the bats would recognise that time had passed and behave accordingly.”

“We found that after one day in captivity, the bats would return to the trees they had visited the previous night. But after a full week, the older bats, based on their past experience, began to avoid trees that had stopped bearing fruit in the meantime.”

“In other words, they could estimate how much time had passed since they last visited each tree, and thus know which trees only bore fruit for a short time and were no longer worth visiting.”

“Younger, inexperienced bats were unable to do this, suggesting that this is an acquired skill that must be mastered.”

“The first research question was about past experience, but the second question was about the future. Do bats exhibit future-oriented behavior? Can they plan for the future?”

“To address this issue, the researchers observed the route each bat took to reach the first tree in the evening, which could indicate a plan made before leaving the colony.”

“We found that bats usually fly directly to specific trees they know, sometimes up to 20-30 minutes away,” said Dr Chen Xin from Tel Aviv University.

“They're hungry, so they fly faster the further away the trees are, which suggests they're planning where they're going.”

“Furthermore, because they are so focused on their chosen target, they pass by other trees and even good sources of information that they only visited yesterday, demonstrating their ability to postpone gratification.”

“We also found that the first bats to leave the colony chose trees with fruits high in sugar, while those who left later sought out fruits with protein.”

The findings suggest that bats plan their foraging before they leave the colony, knowing exactly where they'll be flying and what nutrients they'll be looking for.

“The gap between human and animal cognition is one of the most fascinating questions in science,” Professor Yobel said.

“Our study demonstrates that flying foxes are able to carry out highly complex decision-making processes involving three questions that demonstrate cognitive capabilities: 'where?' (the location of each tree), 'when?' (when the trees will bear fruit) and 'what?' (what nutrients the trees provide, sugars or proteins).”

“Once again, the gap wasn't clearly carved out, and we find that humans are not as special as some think.”

“Apparently, humans and animals all lie on a spectrum, and almost all human abilities can also be found in animals.”

a paper The findings were published in the journal. Current Biology.

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Lee Harten othersTime mapping and future-oriented behavior in free-ranging wild fruit bats. Current BiologyPublished online June 20, 2024; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.046

This article is a version of a Tel Aviv University press release.

Source: www.sci.news

Scientists have discovered a distinct neural signature in chickadees for episodic memory

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecil atricapillus) This small passerine bird from North America, which lives in deciduous and mixed forests, has an extraordinary memory that allows it to remember thousands of food locations to help it survive the winter. Now, scientists Columbia University Zuckerman Institute for Mind, Brain, and Behavior have discovered how Gala is able to remember so many details. They memorize the location of each food item using brain cell activity similar to a barcode.

Chetty other. We propose that animals recall episodic memories by reactivating barcodes in the hippocampus.Image credit: Chetty other., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.032.

“We found that each memory is tagged with a unique pattern of activity in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores memories,” said Dr. Dmitry Aronov, senior author of the study.

“We called these patterns 'barcodes' because they are very specific labels for individual memories. For example, the barcodes of two different caches are Even if two caches are next to each other, there is no correlation.

“There are a number of human discoveries that perfectly match the barcode mechanism,” added Dr. Selman Chetty, lead author of the study.

Scientists have known for decades that the brain's hippocampus is necessary for episodic memories, but understanding exactly how those memories are encoded has been much more difficult. was.

Part of the reason is that it's often difficult to know what animals remember at any given time.

To get around this problem in the new study, Dr. Aronoff and colleagues turned to the black-capped chickadee.

Researchers found that chickadees provide a unique opportunity to study episodic memory because they hide food and then have to remember to come back to retrieve it later.

“Each cache is a clear, obvious, easily observable moment in which a new memory is formed,” Dr. Aronoff said.

“By focusing on these special moments, we were able to identify patterns of memory-related activity that we had not noticed before.”

The researchers needed to design an arena that could automatically track the detailed behavior of the gulls as they hide and retrieve food.

They also needed to develop techniques to make large-scale, high-density neural recordings inside the birds' brains as they move freely.

Their brain recordings during caching revealed very sparse and transient barcode-like firing patterns across hippocampal neurons. Each barcode contains only about 7% of the cells in the hippocampus.

“When a bird creates a cache, about 7% of its neurons respond to that cache. When the bird creates another cache, another group of 7% of its neurons responds,” Dr. Aronoff said. Ta.

These neural barcodes occurred simultaneously with the conventional activity of neurons in the brain that are triggered in response to specific locations, aptly called place cells.

Interestingly, however, there were no similarities in the episodic memory barcodes of cache locations close to each other.

“It was widely thought that place cells change when animals form new memories,” Dr. Aronoff says.

“For example, placement cell firings may increase or decrease near the cache location.”

“This was a common hypothesis, but our data did not support it.”

“Place cells do not represent information about caches; rather, they appear to remain relatively stable as the chickadees cache and retrieve food from the environment.”

“Instead, episodic memory is represented by additional activity patterns, or barcodes, that coexist with place cells.”

The authors liken the newly discovered hippocampal barcode to a computer hash code, a pattern that is assigned as a unique identifier to different events.

They suggest that barcode-like patterns may be a mechanism for the rapid formation and storage of many non-interfering memories.

“Perhaps the biggest unanswered question is whether and how the brain uses barcodes to prompt behavior,” Dr. Aronoff said.

“For example, it's not clear whether chickadees activate barcodes and use their memory of food-caching events when deciding where to go next.”

“We plan to address these questions in future studies through more complex settings in the laboratory, recording brain activity while the birds choose which food stores to visit.”

“If you plan on retrieving cached items before you actually retrieve them, that's to be expected,” Dr. Chetty said.

“We wanted to identify the moments when a bird is thinking about a location but haven't gotten there yet, and see if activating the barcode might move the bird to the cache. thinking about.”

“We also want to know whether the barcoding tactics they discovered in chickadees are widely used among other animals, including humans. It might help clarify the core.”

“When you think about how people define themselves, who they think they are, their sense of self, episodic memories of specific events are central to that. That's what we're trying to understand. That is what we are doing.”

a paper The survey results were published in a magazine cell.

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Selman N. Chetty other. Barcoding of episodic memory in the hippocampus of food-storing birds. cell, published online March 29, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.032

Source: www.sci.news

The process of memory storage in the brain during sleep

Memory is a mysterious phenomenon. Some life events remain sharp in our memories no matter how long ago they occurred, while details from the previous day can quickly fade away.

A recent study published in the journal Science has uncovered the mechanism behind this phenomenon. Researchers have identified a system in the brains of humans and other mammals that determines which experiences are significant enough to be stored in long-term memory and which are forgotten.

Experiments conducted on mice demonstrated that specific patterns of brain activity called “sharp ripples” in the hippocampus, the area responsible for memory formation, occur during wakefulness. These patterns act as tags for important experiences, which are then transferred to long-term memory during sleep.

Although the study was carried out on mice, the lead author, Dr. Johnson, believes that the findings are applicable to humans as well, given the similarities in certain brain processes across mammalian species.

György Buzaki, the Biggs Professor of Neuroscience at New York University Langone Health, emphasized the unconscious nature of this memory consolidation process.

In the study, mice were rewarded with a treat after successfully navigating a maze, while their brain activity was monitored using implanted electrodes. The researchers observed that specific brain activity patterns observed during wakefulness were replayed during sleep, facilitating the conversion of important experiences into long-term memories.

This process highlights the crucial role that sleep plays in memory formation, as experiences deemed important during waking hours are transformed into lasting memories during rest.

According to the researchers, experiences that do not trigger the formation of sharp ripples are less likely to be stored in long-term memory.

To enhance the likelihood of memory retention, Dr. Buzaki suggests taking breaks after significant experiences to allow for the consolidation of memories.

Long-term memory requires relaxation

Research indicates that intentional pauses after experiences can aid in the formation of long-term memories. Dr. Buzaki recommends engaging in relaxing activities post-experience to facilitate the creation of sharp ripples in the brain, a process crucial for memory storage.

For example, after watching a movie, going for a leisurely walk can enhance the chances of remembering the film, as it allows for the encoding of memories.

Dr. Daniela Schiller, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine, highlighted the study’s intriguing discovery regarding brain activity patterns during rest and their resemblance to real-life experiences.

Dr. Daphna Shohamy, director of the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University, emphasized the importance of pauses and bursts of brain activity in memory formation, noting that these elements enhance the likelihood of experiences being stored in long-term memory.

In conclusion, the study provides valuable insights into the unconscious mechanisms behind memory formation and underscores the significance of rest and relaxation in preserving lasting memories.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Mechanisms controlling interactions between sensory and memory nervous systems identified by scientists

The classical understanding of brain organization is that the brain's perceptual areas represent the world 'as it is', and the brain's visual cortex represents the external world 'retinolocally', based on how light hits the retina. That's what it means. In contrast, the brain's memory areas are thought to represent information in an abstract form, stripped of details about physical properties. Now, a team of neuroscientists from Dartmouth College and the University of Edinburgh have identified the neural coding mechanisms that allow information to move back and forth between the brain's sensory and memory regions.

Traditional views of brain organization suggest that regions at the top of the cortical hierarchy process internally directed information using abstract, amodal neural codes. Nevertheless, recent reports have described the presence of retinotopic coding at cortical vertices, including the default mode network.What is the functional role of retinal local coding at the apex of the cortical hierarchy? Steel other. We report that retinotopic coding structures interactions between internally oriented (memory) and externally oriented (perception) brain regions. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

“We now know that brain regions associated with memory encode the world, like a 'photo negative' of the universe,” said Dr. Adam Steele, a researcher at Dartmouth College.

“And that 'negativity' is part of the mechanism that moves information in and out of memory, and between perceptual and memory systems.”

In a series of experiments, participants were tested on perception and memory while their brain activity was recorded using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner.

Dr. Steele and his colleagues identified a contralateral push-pull-like coding mechanism that governs the interaction between perceptual and memory areas in the brain.

The results showed that when light hits the retina, the brain's visual cortex responds by increasing activity that represents the pattern of light.

Memory areas of the brain also respond to visual stimuli, but unlike visual areas, processing the same visual pattern reduces neural activity.

“There are three unusual findings in this study,” the researchers said.

“The first is the discovery that visual coding principles are stored in the memory system.”

“The second thing is that this visual code is upside down in our memory system.”

“When you see something in your visual field, neurons in your visual cortex become active and neurons in your memory system quiet down.”

“Third, this relationship is reversed during memory recall.”

“If you close your eyes and recall that visual stimulus in the same space, the relationship is reversed. Your memory system kicks in and suppresses the neurons in your sensory area.”

Dr Ed Shilson, a neuroscientist at the University of Edinburgh, said: “Our findings demonstrate how shared visual information is used by the memory system to bring recalled memories into and out of focus. “This provides a clear example of how this can be done.”

of study Published in today's magazine natural neuroscience.

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A. Steel other. Retinotopic codes structure interactions between perceptual and memory systems. nut neurosi, published online on January 2, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41593-023-01512-3

Source: www.sci.news

Probiotics found effective in reducing fatigue and memory loss related to prolonged COVID-19 infection

Probiotics, illustration of live microorganisms that can affect intestinal bacteria

ART-ur/Shutterstock

A daily cocktail of prebiotics and probiotics can help reduce fatigue, memory, and symptoms in people with long-term COVID-19 (symptoms that persist for months or years after being infected with COVID-19). May be useful in treating gastrointestinal complaints.

Although little is understood about long-term coronavirus infections, previous research has shown that people with the disease have lower levels of certain gut microbes than those without. Masu. In particular, they lack gut bacteria that produce compounds called short-chain fatty acids that regulate immune responses.

Siu Ng and his colleagues at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have formulated a mixture that boosts the production of short-chain fatty acids. The product, called SIM01, contained three probiotics (live bacterial strains) and three prebiotics (compounds that help the growth of beneficial gut bacteria).

They distributed this cocktail to 232 adults. Another group of 231 adults took a mixture containing starch and low-dose vitamin C. Both mixtures were taken twice a day for 6 months. All participants were residents of Hong Kong, had previously tested positive for COVID-19, and met the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s criteria for long-term COVID-19 infection.

Researchers used a questionnaire to assess 14 long-term COVID-19 symptoms in participants before treatment began and after treatment ended. At the end of the trial, people who received SIM01 were likely to experience relief from five long-term coronavirus symptoms: fatigue, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, general unwellness, and gastrointestinal upset. It was found to be about 2 to 2.5 times higher on average. The research team also found no serious side effects from the treatment.

Analysis of fecal samples taken before and after the trial revealed that SIM01 increases gut microbial diversity and promotes the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, Ng said. Therefore, she says, it could be useful in treating other conditions that are associated with disruption of the gut microbiome, such as chronic fatigue syndrome.

However, it is unclear how these changes in the gut reduce the symptoms of long-term coronavirus infection. timothy sampson At Emory University in Georgia. “It makes sense that the microbiome has the ability to mediate immune responses, but… [immune system] What is actually at the root of [long covid] You get symptoms,” he says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

New artificial protein developed by scientists can enhance memory

Researchers have developed a new breakthrough in memory research by genetically modifying the LIMK1 protein and activating it with rapamycin. This innovative approach shows promise in the treatment of memory-related neuropsychiatric disorders and in the advancement of neurological research.

Researchers at the Catholic University of Rome’s Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and the A. Gemelli National Polyclinic Foundation IRCCS have developed an artificial protein that improves memory.

Neuroscientists at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Catholic University of Rome and the Agostino Gemelli National Polikuri Foundation IRCCS genetically modified a molecule called LIMK1, a protein that normally operates in the brain and plays an important role in memory.

They added a “molecular switch” activated by administering rapamycin, a drug known for some anti-aging effects on the brain.

Collaborative research with important implications

This is the research result published in the journal scientific progressIt involves the Catholic University of Rome and the Agostino Gemelli National Polyclinic Foundation IRCCS. The study was coordinated by Claudio Grassi, full professor of physiology and chair of the neuroscience department.

This research was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research and the U.S. government. Alzheimer’s disease The Association Foundation and the Italian Ministry of Health have great application potential by deepening our understanding of memory function and facilitating the identification of innovative solutions for neuropsychiatric diseases such as dementia.

Role of LIMK1 in memory processes

The LIMK1 protein plays an important role in determining structural changes in neurons, namely the formation of dendritic spines. Dendritic spines enhance information transmission in neural networks and are important for learning and memory processes.

Professor Claudio Grassi, senior author of the study, explains: “Memory is a complex process that involves changes in synapses, connections between neurons, in specific brain regions such as the hippocampus, a neural structure that plays an important role in memory formation.”

“This phenomenon, known as synaptic plasticity, involves changes in the structure and function of synapses that occur when neural circuits are activated, such as by sensory experiences. It promotes the activation of signal transduction pathways,” Professor Grassi added.

“Some of these proteins are particularly important for memory, and in fact, decreased expression or modification of these proteins is associated with changes in cognitive function. One of these proteins is LIMK1. The goal of our study was to control the activity of this protein, as it plays an important role in the maturation of dendritic spines. We have shown that controlling LIMK1 with drugs can promote synaptic plasticity. meaning that it can promote the physiological processes that depend on it,” Professor Grassi emphasizes.

Chemogenetic strategies: a new approach to memory enhancement

“The key to this innovative ‘chemogenetics’ strategy, which combines genetics and chemistry, is the use of the immunosuppressive drug rapamycin,” said Christian Ripoli, associate professor of physiology at Catholic University and lead author of the study. It is precisely connected to this,” he added. The drug is known to increase life expectancy and have beneficial effects on the brain in preclinical models. ”

“We therefore modified the sequence of the LIMK1 protein by inserting a molecular switch that can activate it on command through the administration of rapamycin,” emphasizes Professor Lipoli.

“Using this gene therapy to modify the LIMK1 protein and activate it with a drug significantly improved memory in animals with age-related cognitive decline. This makes it possible to manipulate synaptic plasticity processes and memory in clinical conditions, and paves the way for the development of further “engineered” proteins that could revolutionize research and treatment in the field of neurology. ”, experts emphasize.

“The next step is to test the effectiveness of this treatment in experimental models of neurodegenerative diseases that exhibit memory impairment, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Further research is also needed to validate the use of this technology in humans. “Professor Grassi concluded.

Reference: “Manipulation of memory by exogenous disordered kinases” Cristian Ripoli, Onur Dagliyan, Pietro Renna, Francesco Pastore, Fabiola Paciello, Raimondo Sollazzo, Marco Rinaudo, Martina Battistoni, Sara Martini, Antonella Tramutola, Andrea Sattin, Eugenio Barone, Takeo Written by Saneyoshi, Tommaso Ferrin, Yasunori Hayashi, Claudio Grassi, November 15, 2023, scientific progress.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh1110

Source: scitechdaily.com

The microbiome may be linked to memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease, new study finds

A groundbreaking study proves that Alzheimer’s disease symptoms can be induced in healthy animals through gut microbiome transmission, highlighting the gut-brain connection and suggesting early treatment and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. New avenues for personalized interventions have been opened.

Researchers have discovered a link between the gut microbiome and gut bacteria. Alzheimer’s disease disease.

For the first time, research has demonstrated that symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted to healthy young organisms through the gut microbiome, confirming its role in Alzheimer’s disease.

The research was led by Professor Yvonne Nolan from APC Microbiome Ireland, the world’s leading SFI-funded research center based at University College Cork (UCC), and Professor Yvonne Nolan from UCC’s Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience. Professor Sandrine Thure, King’s College London, and Dr. Annamaria Cattaneo, IRCCS Fatebenefratelli, Italy.

Scientists have discovered a link between Alzheimer’s disease and the gut microbiome. Pictured are Dr. Stephanie Grabracer and Professor Yvonne Nolan. Credit: UGC

This study confirms that the gut microbiome is emerging as an important research target for Alzheimer’s disease, given its sensitivity to lifestyle and environmental influences.

was announced on brainThis study shows that memory impairment in Alzheimer’s patients can be transferred to younger animals through gut microbiota transplantation.

Alzheimer’s disease, memory impairment, gut microbiome

Patients with Alzheimer’s disease had greater abundance of pro-inflammatory bacteria in their fecal samples, and these changes were directly correlated with the patients’ cognitive status.

Professor Yvonne Nolan said: “The memory test we investigated relies on the growth of new neurons in the hippocampal region of the brain. Animals with the gut bacteria of Alzheimer’s patients produced fewer new neurons and had impaired memory. I found out that it is true.”

“Alzheimer’s patients are typically diagnosed at or after the onset of cognitive symptoms, which may be too late, at least with current treatments. “Understanding the role of gut bacteria could pave the way for the development of new treatments and even personalized interventions,” Professor Nolan said.

Implications for treatment strategies and research collaborations

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and is a general term for memory loss and other cognitive impairments severe enough to interfere with daily life. As the population ages, one in three people born today could develop Alzheimer’s disease. Funded by Science Foundation Ireland, scientists at UCC are leading the way in healthy brain aging by investigating how the gut microbiome responds to lifestyle influences such as diet and exercise. We are working to develop strategies to accelerate and advance the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Sandrine Thuret, Professor of Neuroscience at King’s College London and one of the study’s senior authors, said: ‘Alzheimer’s disease is an insidious disease and there is still no effective treatment. , represents an important advance in the understanding of this disease, confirming that the composition of our gut microbiota is causally linked to the development of the disease. This collaboration will help future research in this field. We hope that this will lead to potential advances in therapeutic interventions.”

Professor. John F. Cryan, vice president of research and innovation at UCC, who also worked on the study, said: He conducts research into related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, and with UCC he recognizes APC Microbiome Ireland as a leading institution in microbiome and brain health research. This research is consistent with our UCC Futures Framework and the University’s strategic plans in the areas of food, microbiome, health and, soon to be launched, Future Aging and Brain Sciences. “

Reference: “The microbiota of Alzheimer’s patients induces defects in cognition and hippocampal neurogenesis” Stephanie Grubrucker, Moira Marizzoni, Edina Silajzic, Nicola Lopizzo, Elisa Mombelli, Sarah Nicolas, Sebastian Dom-Hansen, Katia Scacellati, Davide Vito Moretti, Melissa Rosa, Carina Hoffman, John F. Cryan, Olivia F. O’Leary, Jane A. English, Aongus Lovell, Cora O’Neill, Sandrine. Ture, Annamaria Cattaneo, Yvonne M. Nolan, October 18, 2023; brain.
DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad303

The research was carried out by Dr Stephanie Grubrucker, a postdoctoral researcher in collaboration with Professor Nolan, in collaboration with postdoctoral colleagues Dr Edina Siladzic from King’s College London and Dr Moira Marizzoni from IRCCS Fatebenefratelli in Italy. It was carried out. UCC collaborators were Professor Cora O’Neill, Dr Olivia O’Leary, Dr Sarah Nicholas, Dr Jane English, Mr Sebastian Dohm Hansen and Dr Aongus Lovell.

Source: scitechdaily.com