Think about your happiest memories. A wedding, the birth of your child, or the perfect night with friends. Please sit together for a while. Remember the details. What were you wearing? What did you do? odor Like? How did it make you feel?
Now I’m going to do the opposite. Think about it sad Memory – Loss of a loved one, layoffs, or painful parting. Please sit this too.
Which do you want to keep?
Of course, you want happy memories. It made you feel good and happy about life. But the painful ones remain for years, sometimes decades, like bruising beneath the surface. If you can choose, will you keep them or remove them completely?
If this is starting to sound like something from everything The eternal sun of a beautiful heart or start, You won’t be that far away, and Steve Ramirez will agree with you. Ramirez is a neuroscientist at Boston University National Geographic Explorer The study occurs at the edge of bleeding Memory Science. He is probably best known for his actions in which he acted, which showed that it was possible to implant false memories into mice. The findings were published in the journal Science in 2013 And the Royal Society 2014.
His research is built on central truths. Memory is whimsical. It changes and morphs every time we remember it. Ramirez compares it to pressing “Save” in the word document. Every time I get it MemoryI’ll make a little change. Ramirez is investigating whether it can take advantage of its “preservation” process. Rather than changing it by chance, we intentionally rewrite memories. So far, he has found a way to do even more amazing things. Instead of destroying bad memories, create new ones.
Science reminds me of what didn’t happen
“I know that memories are adaptable and susceptible to correction,” says Ramirez. “Every time they’re remembered, they’re cut off and edited with fragments. I wanted to see if I could do that in the lab, because if I could do it directly in the lab and in the brain, I could get a higher resolution snapshot when my memories are distorted or changed.”
The team’s basic research has come to 2012 published papers in Nature They identified and activated clusters of brain neurons of mice that encode fear memories, especially mild foot shock. To do so, researchers genetically manipulated the mice. Memory– Related neurons become light sensitive. Next, I put the creature in a box and was hit by a shock to my legs. I remember that the shock is encoded in photosensitive brain cells.
The team then surgically implanted a small fiber optic cable into the skull of each mouse, which could be used to illuminate the brain with a laser. When they turned it on, it activated bad memory on commands like flipping the switch.
Next, they wanted to see if they could create Fake memories. For this, they put their mouse in a safe box and let them explore it. The next day, they put the mouse in another box, Memory A safe box that fires a laser on the brain and simultaneously impacts the foot.. When they later returned the mouse in the first box, it froze in fear – though it never hit the box.
The team effectively ported the mouse with false memories.
“The key to that experiment was to show that the animal can artificially activate its memory while experiencing something. The new updated version was then the last recorded version of the animal. MemoryHe explains. “The mouse was scared in an environment where nothing bad technically happened.”
Inside the brain editing room
Between lasers, false memories, and shocking experiments, it would be forgiven if you think this is getting a lot of sci-fi. Ramirez accepts comparisons as his work often brushes science fiction in a big way.
“I think the reality of science fiction and science lies in the rock step. They often influence each other in surprisingly unpredictable ways,” says Ramirez. “Sci-fi is inevitable that it is ‘wrong’, but it can remind people of the work that inspires and dreams and visions of science fiction.
Still, it seems scary, especially considering its potential applications to humans. However, Ramirez says that manipulating memory requires a clearly non-invasive approach to people. No brain laser is required. Instead, if you want to activate other people’s happy memories, all you have to do is ask them about it. (Remember the beginning of the story forget? )
“You can update seemingly safe memory to something negative,” he says, referring to foot shock tests. “But what about the opposite: can you turn negative memories into positive? Memory? ”
Despite the comparison of pop culture Inception or The eternal sunRamirez’s real-world application is far less cinematic and definitely deeper. Instead, his work lays the foundation for helping people with PTSD process harmful memories. dementia A longer and better life.
In an upcoming paper currently under peer review, his team claims that they can identify exactly where they are. Memory It is formed in the brain A few days before that happened. It’s like predicting where lightning will hit before the storm gathers. This will result in future clinicians being able to Alzheimer’s diseaseParkinson’s disease, and dementia Before they occur.
“Imagine you can create Google Maps for memory, but at the level of individual brain cells,” he says. “This is a positive brain memory. It’s on this web of 3D activities. You can zoom in here. It looks like something is misfiring.
We are still far from Google Maps for memory. However, Ramirez quickly points out that his field of research is still in its early stages. He places it like this: neuroscience research is about 100 years old. “Compared to physics, neuroscience is still in the Pythagoras theorem stage,” he jokes.
We still don’t know much about the brain, and, as a result, how memory works. But Ramirez and neuroscientists like him are turning science fiction into a science reality. More importantly, their research helps us understand the deeper ways in which memories shape us, and how we can start shaping them quickly.
This article is part of Your memory, rewiringNational Geographic exploration into the fascinating frontiers of ambiguous and fascinating memory science, including advice on how to make your own memory more powerful. learn more.
The non-profit National Geographic Association, which has committed to illuminating and protecting the wonders of our world, funded the work of Stee Bra Mirez, National Geographic Explorer. learn more Supporting the association’s explorers.
