Researchers at the University of Basel discovered a direct link between activity in specific brain regions like the hippocampus and memory efficiency, using the worlds biggest functional imaging study on memory, involving almost 1,500 participants. The findings, which revealed stronger brain activation in people with better memory, could affect future research linking biological characteristics to brain signals.
Individuals display considerable variations in their memory abilities. A research study by the University of Basel has actually now recognized a connection in between particular brain signals and these differences in memory efficiency.
Although it is developed that specific locations of the brain are important for memory functions, it has actually stayed uncertain whether these regions show differing activity levels associated with the storage of info in individuals with differing memory performance levels.
Having actually examined this matter, a research group led by Professor Dominique de Quervain and Professor Andreas Papassotiropoulos has actually now published its lead to the journal Nature Communications.
The participants were then asked to recall as many of the images as possible– and as in the basic population, there were substantial distinctions in memory efficiency among them.
In certain brain areas including the hippocampus, the researchers discovered a direct association in between brain activity throughout the memorization process and subsequent memory performance. People with a better memory revealed a more powerful activation of these brain areas. No such association was discovered for other memory-relevant brain locations in the occipital cortex– they were similarly active in people with all levels of memory efficiency.
Worldwides largest practical imaging study on memory, they asked nearly 1,500 participants in between the ages of 18 and 35 to look at and memorize a total of 72 images. During this process, the researchers taped the subjects brain activity using MRI. The individuals were then asked to remember as much of the images as possible– and as in the basic population, there were considerable differences in memory performance amongst them.
Signals in brain regions and networks
In particular brain areas including the hippocampus, the scientists found a direct association between brain activity throughout the memorization process and subsequent memory efficiency. Individuals with a better memory showed a more powerful activation of these brain areas. No such association was found for other memory-relevant brain areas in the occipital cortex– they were equally active in people with all levels of memory efficiency.
Practical networks related to specific differences in memory performance. Credit: MCN, University of Basel
The researchers were likewise able to determine functional networks in the brain that were linked to memory efficiency. These networks consist of different brain regions that interact with each other to allow intricate procedures such as the storage of details.
” The findings help us to much better comprehend how distinctions in memory efficiency happen in between one individual and another,” said Dr. Léonie Geissmann, the research studys very first author, adding that the brain signals of a single individual do not permit for any conclusions to be drawn about their memory efficiency.
According to the researchers, the outcomes are of fantastic significance for future research aimed at linking biological qualities such as genetic markers to brain signals.
Basel-based research study on memory
The existing study kinds part of a large-scale research study task conducted by the Research Cluster Cognitive and molecular Neurosciences (MCN) at the University of Basels Department of Biomedicine and the University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK) Basel. The goal of this task is to gain a better understanding of memory processes and to move the findings from basic research study into medical applications.
Recommendation: “Neurofunctional underpinnings of private distinctions in visual episodic memory performance” by Léonie Geissmann, David Coynel, Andreas Papassotiropoulos and Dominique J. F. de Quervain, 14 September 2023, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-023-41380-w.
