December 23, 2024

New UCLA Research Reveals That Practice Significantly Rewires the Brain

A UCLA Health research study shows that repetitive practice enhances brain memory pathways, supporting working memory and improving skill accuracy, with implications for treating memory disorders.Researchers at UCLA make use of an unique microscopic lense to uncover changes in nerve cell activity throughout duplicated training sessions.A recent study performed by UCLA Health has revealed that recurring practice not only boosts skill acquisition however also considerably modifies the brains paths for memory.The research, released in the journal Nature and co-led by Rockefeller University, looked for to decipher how the brains capability to maintain and process information, understood as working memory, improves through training.To test this, researchers charged mice with identifying and remembering a sequence of odors over the course of 2 weeks. Scientist then tracked neural activity in the animals as they practiced the job by utilizing a novel, customized microscopic lense that can image cellular activity in up to 73,000 nerve cells at the same time throughout the cortex.Findings on Working Memory ImprovementThe study revealed a transformation in the working memory circuits situated in the secondary motor cortex as the mice duplicated the job through time.”This insight not only advances our understanding of learning and memory but likewise has implications for dealing with memory-related disorders,” Golshani said.Reference: “Volatile working memory representations take shape with practice” by Arash Bellafard, Ghazal Namvar, Jonathan C. Kao, Alipasha Vaziri and Peyman Golshani, 15 May 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/ s41586-024-07425-wThe work was carried out by Dr. Arash Bellafard, project researcher at UCLA in close collaboration with Dr. Alipasha Vaziris group at Rockefeller University.