Mount Sinai researchers have discovered for the first time a neural mechanism for memory integration that stretches across both time and personal experience. These findings, reported in Nature , demonstrate how memories stored in neural ensembles in the brain are constantly being updated and reorganized with salient information, and represent an important step in deciphering how our memories stay current with the most recently available information. This discovery could have important implications for better understanding adaptive memory processes (such as making causal inferences) as well as maladaptive processes (such as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD).
The long-held view is that memories are formed during initial learning and remain stable in neural ensembles over time, enabling us to recall a particular experience. Our work with mouse models shows the inadequacy of this theory, since it doesn't account for how the brain can both store memories while flexibly updating them with new and relevant information. This combination of stability and flexibility within neural ensembles is critical for us to make everyday predictions and decisions, and to interact with an ever-changing world.
" Denise Cai, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and senior author of the study The fundamental question of how we dynamically update memories as we encounter fresh information has continued to challenge neuroscientists. For their stud.
