60秒科学:Finding Room for New Memories
Finding Room for New Memories
A study in the journal Cell shows that the formation of new memories requires the movement of other memories located in the hippocampus to long-term storage in the neocortex. Karen Hopkin reports
We all love getting something new. But then we have to move around our current clutter 1 to find a place for it. Well, looks like things work the same way in the brain. Because according to a study published in the journal Cell, newborn neurons in the brain’s memory center make room for new memories by moving out the old ones.
Ten years ago, scientists discovered that the brain makes new neurons well into adulthood 2. These cells arise in the hippocampus, a brain region associated with learning and memory. So everyone figured these new neurons must help make new memories, although no one knew how.
Working with rodents 3, researchers watched what happens when they either prevented neurons from being born or made them sprout 4 faster. They found that new neurons help move older memories out of the hippocampus and into long-term storage in the neocortex. Such shuffling 5, they think, may free up space in the hippocampus and increase its capacity for taking in something new. The new memories in the study happened to be fearful ones, but the researchers think the process applies to all memories stored in the hippocampus. Which means your brain is probably moving stuff around right now so you can remember this story.
- The garage is in such a clutter that we can't find anything.车库如此凌乱，我们什么也找不到。
- We'll have to clear up all this clutter.我们得把这一切凌乱的东西整理清楚。
- Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
- Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。
- Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病，常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲，有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句