In one important way, we are capable of traveling back in time. Through memory, we can return to childhood, go back to the moment we first fell in love or recall our first professional triumph.
Vivid memories that call to mind an experience in deep sensory detail can seem to transport us back to another time and place. When we recall the particular bit of information we’re looking for, we also recall many other surrounding details — how we felt, what we were wearing, what came before and afterwards.
New research from neuroscientists at Vanderbilt University sheds light on how the brain performs this remarkable function.
–
“People with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, often have difficulty remembering things that just happened to them,” Polyn told HuffPost. “A doctor could have a patient repeat back a series of numbers a few times, but then a few minutes later, the patient might not even remember that they even studied those things. If we can understand what different brain regions are doing during healthy memory retrieval, that can give us great insight into what’s going wrong when memory is damaged. It may also help us develop better tests for early detection of memory disorders, and give us ideas for how to better treat people with these disorders.”
The study was published on February 18 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
