What are memories? A big question without a satisfying answer. A slightly more manageable question might be WHERE are memories. So far, the debate about where memories are stored in the brain has been ongoing, with no agreed upon answer…so far.
Some neuroscientists believe that memories are stored in the synapses (the connections between nerve cells) while others believe that memories are stored in the more permanent and accessible nuclei of neurons. The former is like writing a note in beach sand while the latter is like putting a file in a metal filing cabinet.
Recently some neuroscientist researchers at UCLA (California is kind of badass) helped us come closer to answering the question of memory-storage with an experiment involving sea snails.
Sea snails learn in similar ways as mammals do, but since they have about 20,000 neurons compared to a human being’s 100 BILLION neurons, they are easier to study.
The experiment required a snail to be shocked with a small charge. At first, the snail curls itself up in a defensive position for about 10 seconds. Gradually the shock levels were increased until the snail was staying curled up for 50 seconds at a time after every shock. They were trained!
Then the researches removed a bit of RNA (ribonucleic acid, which forms proteins based on a cell’s DNA instructions) from the snail and injected that RNA into an untrained snail. Then they zapped both an un-injected snail and the snail with the recent RNA injection. The uninjected snail curled up for the normal 10 seconds. The snail that had been injected with the RNA from the trained snail curled up for 40 seconds! The same amount as if it had been trained itself. That suggests a “memory” transfer from one snail to another.
Sure, its rudimentary, and doesn’t really solve the question of where memories are stored, but it does suggest an answer. It certainly is an interesting experiment.
Understanding memory is the first step in truly being able to treat the more insidious brain-related illnesses that plague us. Armed with this understanding, we could defeat Alzheimer’s or be able to treat trauma and PTSD.
But we have to crawl before we can walk. All hail the noble sea snail!
