Memory News

May 22, 2025

Top Headlines

How Molecules Can 'Remember' and Contribute to Memory and Learning

May 20, 2025 — Researchers have discovered how an ion channel in the brain's neurons has a kind of 'molecular memory', which contributes to the formation and preservation of lifelong memories. The researchers have identified a specific part of the ion channel at ...

Brain Scans Reveal What Happens in the Mind When Insight Strikes

May 14, 2025 — That 'aha' moment when you come back to a puzzle and immediately figure it out? Something fascinating is going on in your brain. A new study using functional magnetic resonance imaging shows that these flashes of insight aren't just satisfying -- ...

Energy and Memory: A New Neural Network Paradigm

May 14, 2025 — Listen to the first notes of an old, beloved song. Can you name that tune? If you can, congratulations -- it's a triumph of your associative memory, in which one piece of information (the first few notes) triggers the memory of the entire pattern ...

Hormone Cycles Shape the Structure and Function of Key Memory Regions in the Brain

May 13, 2025 — Hormone levels fluctuate like the tides, ebbing and flowing according to carefully orchestrated cycles. These hormones not only influence the body, but can cross into the brain and shape the behavior ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:46pm EDT

Sleep Apnea During REM Sleep Linked to Memory-Related Brain Changes

May 7, 2025 — Obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that causes lower oxygen levels during sleep, is linked to degeneration of brain regions associated with memory through damage to the brain's small blood vessels, ...

A Virtual Reality Game Integrating Smell to Fight Cognitive Decline

Apr. 30, 2025 — Aiming to address age-related cognitive decline, a growing global health challenge, a team of researchers has developed a VR-based smell-training system to help combat it. This innovative VR game ...

Remembering the Cold: Scientists Discover How Memories Control Metabolism

Apr. 23, 2025 — New multidisciplinary research shows that the brain forms memories of cold experiences and uses them to control our metabolism. The study shows that cold memories form in the brain -- and map out how ...

Watching Our Brains Remember Multiple Things at Once

Apr. 21, 2025 — A new study offers insight into what is happening in our brains when our working memory must use its limited resources to remember multiple things. Researchers found that two parts of the brain work ...

Study Shows Addressing Working Memory Can Help Students With Math Difficulty Improve Word Problem-Solving Skills

Apr. 21, 2025 — Working memory is like a mental chalkboard we use to store temporary information while executing other tasks. Scientists worked with more than 200 ...

High-Fat, High-Sugar Diets Impact Cognitive Function

Apr. 21, 2025 — New research links fatty, sugary diets to impaired brain function. The findings build on a growing body of evidence showing the negative impact of high-fat, high-sugar (HFHS) diets on cognitive ...

Simulating Protein Structures Involved in Memory Formation

Apr. 16, 2025 — Complex protein interactions at synapses are essential for memory formation in our brains, but the mechanisms behind these processes remain poorly understood. Now, researchers have developed a ...

Scientists Identify Key Enzyme in Alzheimer's Disease That Links Brain Inflammation to Memory Loss

Apr. 14, 2025 — A research team has identified a previously unknown enzyme, SIRT2, that plays a key role in memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The ...

Key Differences Between Visual And Memory-Led Alzheimer's Discovered

Apr. 2, 2025 — Differences in the distribution of certain proteins and markers in the brain may explain why some people first experience vision changes instead of memory loss in Alzheimer's disease, finds a new ...

Early Signs of Heart Problems Linked to Smaller Brain Volumes

Mar. 26, 2025 — People who have early signs of heart problems may also have changes in brain health that can be early signs of dementia, such as loss of brain volume, according to a meta-analysis. The meta-analysis ...

Could an Arthritis Drug Unlock Lasting Relief from Epilepsy and Seizures? Promising Results in Mice

Mar. 25, 2025 — A drug typically prescribed for arthritis halts brain-damaging seizures in mice that have a condition like epilepsy, according to researchers. If the drug proves viable for human patients, it would ...

Exercise of Any Kind Boosts Brainpower at Any Age

Mar. 25, 2025 — Whether it's an early morning jog, or a touch of Tai Chi, groundbreaking research shows that any form of exercise can significantly boost brain function and memory across children, adults, and ...

How the Brain Links Related Memories Formed Close in Time

Mar. 21, 2025 — If you've ever noticed how memories from the same day seem connected while events from weeks apart feel separate, a new study reveals the reason: Our brains physically link memories that occur ...

Boosting Brain's Waste Removal System Improves Memory in Old Mice

Mar. 21, 2025 — Aging compromises the lymphatic vessels surrounding the brain, disabling waste drainage from the brain and impacting cognitive function. Researchers boosted lymphatic vessel integrity in old mice and ...

New Rules for the Game of Memory

Mar. 20, 2025 — New research on the hippocampus, a brain area essential for memory, suggests that new rules of synaptic plasticity best explain how brain activity continually reshapes the way memories are recorded ...

Insomniac Fruit Fly Mutants Show Enhanced Memory Despite Severe Sleep Loss

Mar. 20, 2025 — Fruit fly mutants that have severe sleep deficits perform better at olfactory learning and memory tasks, according to a new study. The paradox of enhanced memory despite sleep loss could be explained ...

Why Don't We Remember Being a Baby? New Study Provides Clues

Mar. 20, 2025 — Though we learn so much during our first years of life, we can't, as adults, remember specific events from that time. Researchers have long believed we don't hold onto these experiences ...

Parts of the Brain That Are Needed to Remember Words Identified

Mar. 19, 2025 — The parts of the brain that are needed to remember words, and how these are affected by a common form of epilepsy, have been identified by a team of neurologists and neurosurgeons at ...

Mastery of Language Could Predict Longevity

Mar. 18, 2025 — A recent study has linked longevity specifically to verbal fluency, the measure of one's vocabulary and ability to use ...

Dopamine's Unexpected Role in Memory Devaluation

Mar. 12, 2025 — New research expands on current understanding of the brain chemical dopamine, finding that it plays a role in reducing the value of memories associated with rewards. The study opens new avenues for ...

New Research Reveals Psychological 'Booster Shots' Can Strengthen Resistance to Misinformation Over Time

Mar. 11, 2025 — A new study has found that targeted psychological interventions can significantly enhance long-term resistance to misinformation. Dubbed 'psychological booster shots,' these interventions ...

Memory Is Impaired in Aged Rats After 3 Days of High-Fat Eating

Mar. 6, 2025 — Just a few days of eating a diet high in saturated fat could be enough to cause memory problems and related brain inflammation in older adults, a new study in rats ...

Possible Foundations of Human Intelligence Observed for the First Time

Mar. 6, 2025 — A study has demonstrated how neurons in the human brain generate memories and establish narratives. Contrary to previous beliefs, individual neurons represent the concepts we learn, regardless of the ...

How Air Pollution and Wildfire Smoke May Contribute to Memory Loss in Alzheimer's Disease

Feb. 27, 2025 — Air pollution contributes to nearly 7 million premature deaths each year, and its effects go far beyond the lungs. Breathing in wildfire smoke or automobile-related city smog doesn't just ...

Microplastics in Ocean Linked to Disabilities for Coastal Residents

Feb. 26, 2025 — Tiny bits of plastic found in the ocean may be tied to a higher risk of disability for people who live in coastal areas with high levels, according to a preliminary study. The study looked at ...

How Humans Learn to Optimize Working Memory

Feb. 24, 2025 — Working memory is what allows humans to juggle different pieces of information in short-term scenarios, like making a mental grocery list and then going shopping or remembering and then dialing a ...

Brain-Wide Activity Change Visualized as Geometric Patterns

Feb. 21, 2025 — Researchers have applied a visualization technique to depict the brain's activity related to visual perception as geometric patterns. They visualized different shapes as the ever-changing ...

Meet the Newly Discovered Brain Cell That Allows You to Remember Objects

Feb. 12, 2025 — Researchers have discovered a new type of neuron that plays a fundamental role in recognition memory -- how the brain registers the difference between new and familiar objects and forms long-term ...

Scientists Discover Brain Mechanism That Helps Us Overcome Fear

Feb. 6, 2025 — Researchers have unveiled the precise brain mechanisms that enable animals to overcome instinctive fears. The study in mice could have implications for developing therapeutics for fear-related ...

Air Pollution Clouds the Mind and Makes Everyday Tasks Challenging

Feb. 6, 2025 — People's ability to interpret emotions or focus on performing a task is reduced by short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution, potentially making everyday activities, such as ...