More Than 100 Memory-Sensitive Neurons Identified as First Human Evidence of Memory Formation

In a stunning discovery, researchers, for the first time, have been able to identify more than 100 memory-sensitive neurons that play a vital role in how memories are created and recalled in the brain. UT Southwestern researchers are positive that it could one day benefit people that have gone through traumatic brain injuries or those struggling with schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Memory Loss

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According to Mayo Clinic, Traumatic brain injury is often the result of violent blows or jolts to either the head or the body. An object that penetrates brain tissue like bullets or shattered pieces of the skull can cause traumatic brain injury. In contrast, mild traumatic brain injury can temporarily affect a person's brain cells. While more severe traumatic brain injuries may result in torn tissues, bruising, bleeding of the brain, and other physical damages.

There isn't just one kind of memory; there are several kinds of memory, and TBI affects them differently. Memory problems are commonly reported in people who have moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Since it can damage parts of a person's brain, it leads to challenges in both learning and remembering.

Memory loss related to TBI doesn't work like how amnesia is portrayed in shows. Instead of forgetting the past, a person is more likely to recall past long-term events and will have trouble learning and remembering new information and events post-accident.

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More than 100 Memory-Sensitive Neurons Identified in First of a Kind Evidence of Memory Formation

Bradley Lega, M.D, lead author and an Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery, published the findings of their recent study in the journal NeuroImage, titled "Neurons in the human medial temporal lobe track multiple temporal contexts during episodic memory processing," pointing at a novel deep brain stimulation therapy for brain diseases and injuries.

De Lega explains that the recent study sheds light on important questions regarding how a person remembers something from the past and how experiencing new things are remembered, reports Neuroscience.

The most significant discovery of the team is that firing occurs with varying timing relative to other brain activity when memories are retrieved. The small difference in timing, known as "phase offset," has not been reported before in humans. Together, the results explain how a person's brain can "re-experience" events and keep track of whether memories are new or previously encoded.

The study identifies 103 memory-sensitive neurons in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex that are known to increase their activity rate when memory encoding has been successful. The same pattern returned once patients attempted to recall the same memories, especially when highly detailed memories.

The hippocampus' activity may have relevance to schizophrenia due to hippocampal dysfunction's role in a schizophrenia inability to decipher between delusions, hallucinations, and memories. The neurons identified in the study are a vital piece of the puzzle as to why this occurs in patients that have gone through traumatic brain injuries or disorders.