We all have cherished memories, flavors, and scents that we can recall. Have you ever wondered how?
The hippocampus plays a role in learning and associative memory. The CA3 region processes information and completes memory patterns.
Like a Black box, our brain is designed to handle large storage and has extraordinary abilities to store and recall memories. Scientists are finally opening this black box, the human brain, the part that stores memories.
Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and the Medical University of Vienna studied the hippocampal CA3 region in the brain, that stores memory. Their study, published in Cell, revealed that the human brain exhibits distinct features compared to animal models, particularly rodents.
All previous research relied on animal studies, leaving a gap in knowledge of human-specific brain functions. Led by Peter Jonas and Jake Watson from ISTA, and neurosurgeon Karl Russler the team examined samples from epilepsy patients who underwent neurosurgery, allowing them to study intact human hippocampal tissue. Multicellular patch-clamp recording and super-resolution microscopy were the advanced techniques used.
The findings indicated that the neural connectivity in the human CA3 region is sparser than that in rodents. The synapses appear more reliable and precise. This suggests that the human hippocampus is a larger version of the rodent brain with unique properties that enhance memory. The sparse synaptic connectivity increases the storage capacity for memories. Researchers aim to model this computational power of the CA3 network.
This groundbreaking research can help us understand the unique functions of the brain. Jonas highlighted the need for future research to consider human-specific characteristics, even when animal models were used.
Reference:
1. Watson, Jake F., Victor Vargas-Barroso, Rebecca J. Morse-Mora, Matthias Tomschik, Karl Rössler, and Peter Jonas. "Human Hippocampal CA3 Uses Specific Functional Connectivity Rules for Efficient Associative Memory." Cell, December 11, 2024. Accessed December 16, 2024. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)01338-2?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867424013382%3Fshowall%3Dtrue.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Dr. Swati Sharma/MSM)