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memory

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Artist’s conception of DNA breaking.
neuroscience

To Learn More Quickly, Brain Cells Break Their DNA

By Jordana Cepelewicz
August 30, 2021
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New work shows that neurons and other brain cells use DNA double-strand breaks, often associated with cancer, neurodegeneration and aging, to quickly express genes related to learning and memory.

An artist’s conception of the ways that functional capacities have been mapped to regions of the brain.
neuroscience

The Brain Doesn’t Think the Way You Think It Does

By Jordana Cepelewicz
August 24, 2021
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Familiar categories of mental functions such as perception, memory and attention reflect our experience of ourselves, but they are misleading about how the brain works. More revealing approaches are emerging.

A drawing of a mouse, with lines representing sensory data rotating 90 degrees to become lines of memory data.
neuroscience

The Brain ‘Rotates’ Memories to Save Them From New Sensations

By Jordana Cepelewicz
April 15, 2021
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Some populations of neurons simultaneously process sensations and memories. New work shows how the brain rotates those representations to prevent interference.

Fluorescent cross-section of a mouse’s brain.
Abstractions blog

Brain Cell DNA Refolds Itself to Aid Memory Recall

By Elena Renken
November 2, 2020
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Researchers see structural changes in genetic material that allow memories to strengthen when remembered.

Two arrows that are intertwined for most of their length but then point in different directions.
Abstractions blog

In Brain Waves, Scientists See Neurons Juggle Possible Futures

By Jordana Cepelewicz
February 24, 2020
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Faced with a decision, the brain weighs its options by bundling them into rapidly alternating cycles of brain waves.

Animation of one icon tracing a wave pattern over a brain, followed by another icon that erases the pattern.
neuroscience

Dueling Brain Waves Anchor or Erase Learning During Sleep

By Elena Renken
October 24, 2019
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While we sleep, one kind of slow brain wave helps to reinforce memories, but a competing wave weakens them.

Abstractions blog

In Brain’s Electrical Ripples, Markers for Memories Appear

By Jordana Cepelewicz
August 6, 2019
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Researchers found that elongating certain brain signals in rats improved their memory. The work revealed a new property to look out for in the hunt for “biomarkers” of learning.

Art for "Goals and Rewards Rewrite the Brain’s Map of the World"
Abstractions blog

Goals and Rewards Redraw the Brain’s Map of the World

By Jordana Cepelewicz
March 28, 2019
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Two new studies show that the brain’s navigation system changes how it represents physical space to reflect personal experience.

Art for "How the Brain Creates a Timeline of the Past"
neuroscience

How the Brain Creates a Timeline of the Past

By Jordana Cepelewicz
February 12, 2019
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The brain can’t directly encode the passage of time, but recent work hints at a workaround for putting timestamps on memories of events.


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