Full Article -
Scientists discover way to reverse loss of memory - Science, News - Independent.co.uk
I thought this was pretty fascinating. Not just for people with memory problems. Ever have one of those dreams that when you wake up it felt so real ? It seems like thats what this guy was experiencing with his memory coming back and being so "colorful" as they say while he was awake.
The entire article might be kinda boring... So in General :
The breakthrough was discovered by accident. They were trying to stimulate this obese man's brain to suppress his appetite. It didnt work... But what it did was bring back memories like crazy.
It was a dramatic effect when they would turn the thing on and off. They would never let the patient know when they were turning it on or off either.
Some of the more interesting quotes :
Quote:
Professor Lozano said: "His performance improved dramatically. As we turned the current up, we first drove his memory circuits and improved his learning. As we increased the intensity of the current, we got spontaneous memories of discrete events. At a certain intensity, he would slash to the scene [in the park]. When the intensity was increased further, he got more detail but, when the current was turned off, it rapidly decayed."
"He recalled, in intricate detail, a scene from 30 years earlier. More tests showed his ability to learn was dramatically improved when the current was switched on and his brain stimulated."
"He reported the experience of being in a park with friends from when he was around 20 years old and, as the intensity of stimulation increased, the details became more vivid. He recognised his girlfriend [from the time] ... The scene was in colour. People were wearing identifiable clothes and were talking, but he could not decipher what they were saying," the researchers write in Annals of Neurology, published today.
"We are driving the activity of the brain by increasing its sensitivity – turning up the volume of the memory circuits. Any event that involves the memory circuits is more likely to be stored and retained."
The discovery surprised the scientists as the hypothalamus has not usually been identified as a seat of memory. The contacts that most readily produced the memories were located close to a structure called the fornix, an arched bundle of fibres that carries signals within the limbic system, which is involved in memory and emotions and is situated next to the hypothalamus.
Professor Lozano is a world authority on deep-brain stimulation who has undertaken 400 operations on Parkinson's disease sufferers and is developing the technique as a treatment for depression, for which he has performed 28 operations. He said the discovery of its role in stimulating memory had wide implications.
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