Imagine your body as one giant building. Until now, we’ve thought that the only room in the building that stores memories is the reading room (the brain). But scientists at New York University recently published a surprising finding: memories can be stored throughout the building, from the basement to the attic.
For a long time, we’ve believed that memories are solely the domain of the brain, but a team led by Dr. Nikolay V. Kukushkin of New York University has turned that myth on its head. The study, published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, found that cells in various parts of the body can also perform memory functions.
An innovative research method
The team utilized a neuroscience concept called the “spaced attention effect,” which states that we remember information better when we study it multiple times at short intervals than when we study it intensively all at once.
In the lab, the researchers looked at two types of non-brain human cells – nerve tissue and kidney tissue – and exposed them to different patterns of chemical signals, mimicking the process that brain cells go through when learning new information.
A surprising discovery
Surprisingly, these non-brain cells activated the same ‘memory genes’ that brain cells turn on when they form memories. To observe this process more precisely, the researchers tweaked the cells to produce a ‘glowing protein’ when the memory genes were activated.
The results of the experiment were fascinating. The cells distinguished between learning signals delivered at regular intervals and those delivered all at once. Specifically, the memory genes were activated more strongly and for longer in the spaced signals.
“This shows that the ability to learn through repetition is not just a property of brain cells, but may be a fundamental property of all cells,” explains Dr. Kukushkin.
Research implications and future prospects
This discovery opens up new horizons in the fields of memory research and health. For example, it raises intriguing questions, such as: Is the pancreas necessary for blood sugar regulation?
This research opens up the possibility of new approaches for improving learning and treating memory disorders. It also hints at the incredible complexity of the human body and the existence of many secrets yet to be discovered.
Applications in everyday life
The fact that our patterns of thought and behavior are stored throughout our bodies can help us improve our current situation. What if positive thoughts and beneficial behavioral patterns were remembered by the body? Stop the negative thoughts and behavior patterns and create new ones. Your body is connected to your mind, and if you change your body’s memory, you’ll change your mind.
