Comments on: An injection and a nap: two ways of strengthening memories

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 23:24:39 +0000

I would hate not to be able to edit my memories!
The monster under my bed would still be terrifying.

Ooh, but I’d love to use that stuff while running political ads for a campaign!

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:02:26 +0000

Thanks. Perhaps my IT background made me interpret the idea of moving data from one store to another in an overly simplistic way. Certainly the idea of integrating new memories into the existing corpus feels more correct; then there’s a chance of any memory at all surfacing in a dream as links are made to it.

Was it Martin Gardner who reported a childhood memory of driving with his parents to Devil’s Mountain? He recalled watching it approach as they drove towards it only to discover years later that no such view is possible. Memory can indeed be edited. I wonder if there’s a way to stop it? Would we if we could?

By: Ewan

Ewan — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 02:08:34 +0000

Not to – well, ok, at least in part to – blow my own horn; but the IGF-II data may (possibly; it could also be independent) be a reflection of our work on insulin as a central cognitive modulator (see e.g. http://www.albany.edu/mcnaylab/documents/nlm2010.pdf), given that IGF-II cross-binds to insulin receptors.

I clearly need a better press office . [Not only did we show that we could enhance with exogenous insulin, but - more important - direct blockade of endogenous insulin specifically within the hippocampus caused marked impairment, so that insulin signalling appears to be a key component of physiological memory processes. We also showed that systemic insulin resistance causes impaired central insulin responsiveness and cognitive deficits, and that insulin can directly increase hippocampal glucose metabolism; given the long history of data on glucose as a cognitive modulator (e.g. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC16024/) this seems a plausible mechanism by which insulin - and perhaps also IGF-II - act.]

By: bbleeker

bbleeker — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:02:45 +0000

“Whenever we remember something, the fragile window reopens. Again, it’s more like opening a computer document than getting notes out of a drawer. You could easily add, edit or delete information at a flick of a key. Every time we bring back an old memory, we run the risk of changing it.”

That sounds promising. I have some memories that I’d love to change, or better yet, erase altogether. Are there any techniques for that?

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:22:14 +0000

Fixed the link error. Re: “overwritten”, perhaps “edited” would be a better analogy. I’m not saying that the memories are completely altered, but they can certainly be tweaked with new information.

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:53:09 +0000

Unfortunately, the link “dreams could be the result” produced a 404 error. It struck me as very odd that the “transfer of memories” during sleep should produce experiences completely unlike the memories. But I doubt anyone would be surprised at the suggestion that “things might be a bit more complicated than that”.

I’m leery, too, of the idea that memories are “overwritten”. The tendency of the elderly to recall more and more of their early life, recalling things they’ve not thought about in years is well known I think.

Still I shall use this information: “I wasn’t sleeping, dear, I was consolidating”.