Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id LAA10657 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Tue, 19 Feb 2002 11:46:08 GMT Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3102A6D270@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: Memory again Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 11:34:30 -0000 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Filter-Info: UoS MailScan 0.1 [D 1] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/sci_tech/2002/boston_2002/newsid_1
824000/1824653.stm
Saturday, 16 February, 2002, 20:06 GMT
'How memories are formed'
By BBC News Online's Caroline Ryan in Boston
The different ways the brain works when it stores memories have been caught
on camera.
Using modern brain imaging techniques, scientists have recorded the patterns
in activity that change depending on whether memories are going to be stored
or deleted.
The study was done by a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) and reported to the American Association for the Advancement of
Science annual meeting, which this year is in Boston.
The researchers identified a number of different brain parts involved in the
very complex process of creating and storing memories.
Future tests
In their tests, healthy men and women were shown a list of words or pictures
while they were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),
which recorded activity in the brain.
They were then given a surprise quiz 20 minutes later to see what they
remembered. Researchers could then match the brain patterns to the stored
memories.
Professor Anthony Wagner, who led the research team, said: "Using this brain
imaging technique allowed us to characterise the human brain while it was in
the process of building new memories."
In addition to telling scientists more about how memory works, the technique
could also one day be used to identify early signs of conditions such as
Alzheimer's disease, where the brain's memory circuits stop working
effectively.
Professor Wagner said: "We can then use that exact same technology and look
for changes in these circuits in individuals who haven't been clinically
diagnosed as having Alzheimer's disease, but you'd like to catch them as
early as possible, and this could be a diagnostic tool."
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