We’ve all experienced, at one point or another, the
inability to recall information that we thought we had memorized. Whether it’s
items on a grocery list or terms for a test, our lapses demonstrate that the
process of memorization is far from infallible. These types of memory failures
inspired Michael Kahana and his team at the University of Pennsylvania to search
for ways to improve our ability to memorize.
Earlier this month, NPR did a segment on Kahana’s research
called “A Tiny Pulse of Electricity Can Help the Brain Form Lasting Memories.”
The article begins by describing how Kahana and his team study the brain. There
are many methods which scientists can use, each with their own advantages and
disadvantages. To understand memory dysfunction, Kahana must study regions that
are buried deep within the brain, which can be hard to access. Therefore, he
studies the brains of patients with epilepsy; doctors have already inserted
specialized wires into the brains of these patients to monitor electrical
activity. This allows researchers to study the depths of their brains! This
technique is called Electrocorticography, or more affectionately, ECOG. It
allows researchers like Kahana to figure out exactly when and where the brain
is activated. Thus, he can determine how the brain accomplishes a task, such as
memorization.
Using this technique, Kahana’s team was able to figure out
the specific pattern of activity demonstrated when the brain successfully
memorized a list of words. No surprise here: this activation pattern was
different when a person was successful in memorizing than when forgetting would
occur. In other words, the way our brain works as we try to memorize can
actually determine if we will be able to recall the information at a later
time!
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An image from Kahana’s research team. The dots in red indicate where on the brain, a pulse of electricity caused a change in memorization ability |
Once Kahana knew how a successfully
memorizing brain ought to look, he set out to improve our ability to memorize.
In the experiment described by NPR, Kahana continued to work with the patients
with epilepsy. He gave them a list of words to memorize. As the patients
memorized, a computer monitored the activity of their brain. If it appeared
their brain cells were not being activated in the memory-forming pattern, a
pulse of electricity would be delivered to the brain. When this pulse of
electricity was delivered to the area involved in recalling words (officially
called the lateral temporal cortex), the researchers noted a significant
increase in the patients’ ability to remember. In effect, Kahana’s team was
able to modify the brain’s activity, prompting a higher rate of successful
memorization.
The ultimate goal of this research is to create a wearable
device that would recognize upcoming memory lapses and correct the brain’s
course. This could be especially useful for patients with Alzheimer’s. While
this research certainly is promising, it is important to consider the
limitations of this study. One of the members of Kahana’s team, Michael
Sperling, explains that any findings from patients with epilepsy may not apply
to unaffected brains. Those with epilepsy tend to have a variety of other
conditions that affect the memorization process.
Another major hurdle facing the team is the transition from delivering
electrical pulses from within the brain to sending them from an external,
wearable device. Despite the research yet to be done, this team is very
optimistic that they can create a memory-boosting device “within the next half
a dozen years or so” (Sperling, 2018). So don’t forget to be on the lookout for
this new technology!
Citations:
Ezzyat,
Y., Wanda, P. A., Levy, D. F., Kadel, A., Aka, A., Pedisich, I., Kahana, M. J.
(2018). Closed-loop stimulation of temporal cortex rescues functional networks
and improves memory. Nature Communications,9(1).
doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02753-0
Hamilton,
J. (2018, February 06). A Tiny Pulse Of Electricity Can Help The Brain Form
Lasting Memories. Retrieved February 23, 2018, from
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/02/06/583633391/a-tiny-pulse-of-electricity-can-help-the-brain-form-lasting-memories
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