In the brain, timing is everything
Thursday, January 23, 2014 · Posted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Memories of events, known as episodic memories, always contain three elements — what, where, and when. Those memories are created in a brain structure called the hippocampus, which must coordinate each of these three elements.
Watching molecules morph into memories
Thursday, January 23, 2014 · Posted by Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University used advanced imaging techniques to provide a window into how the brain makes memories. These insights into the molecular basis of memory were made possible by a technological tour de force never before achieved in animals: a mouse model developed at Einstein in which molecules crucial to making memories were given fluorescent “tags” so they could be observed traveling in real time in living brain cells.
A time for memories
Wednesday, January 22, 2014 · Posted by University of Leicester
Neuroscientists from the University of Leicester, in collaboration with the Department of Neurosurgery at the University California Los Angeles (UCLA), are to reveal details of how the brain determines the timing at which neurons in specific areas fire to create new memories.
Goodnight. Sleep Clean.
Saturday, January 11, 2014 · Posted by Maria Konnikova, New York Times
Sleep, it turns out, may play a crucial role in our brain’s physiological maintenance. As your body sleeps, your brain is quite actively playing the part of mental janitor: It’s clearing out all of the junk that has accumulated as a result of your daily thinking.