The memory implantation of science fiction, the movie
Inception, and the concept of memory travel has not yet become an actual affair
but may be well on its way. Scientists have implanted false memory into mice to
create memories that never actually happened. Dr. Susumu Tonagawa a
neuroscientist, and his team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
recently published this amazing study in the journal Science.
Neurons are a combination of electrical current that
activates memory to determine the best courses of actions to current events. By manipulating individual neurons, it is
possible to place within the mice’s mind the fear of an activity that never occurred.
The memories are stored in what is called engrams that are put together to
create a behavioral action to certain stimuli in the present.
The channelrhodopsin protein was encoded in the brain cells
when they were activated during a room exploration process by the mice. Later,
when exposed to blue light the protein was activated and changed the memory. This
occurred when the mice were placed in a different chamber and an electric shock
was given to create a fear response. However, when the blue light was activated
the protein laden memory of the first room became associated with the shock.
The switching of the shock room creates a profound new
finding. The process helps to explain how memory operates and how false memory
works in humans. Humans take bits and pieces of things they remember and add
them up to make a constructed memory. The problem is that they sometimes
include information that is not accurate.
There is a way for humans to overcome false memory. This
includes the ability to better associate the original memories to their root stimuli
and be aware of the alternative explanations. When humans are aware of the
pieces of memory and use logic to help them ensure that the pieces fit together,
or alternative pieces of information that are more accurate when a single piece
changes the meaning of the memory, they can better decipher false from true
memory.
The concept of comparing and contrasting exact events is
call critical thinking. Settling on the facts and then making logical meaning
from the facts helps to ensure that the events are constructed in an accurate
way. When people make leaps because cause and effect without the associated
pieces they are more prone to false memory. It is a little like asking someone
why they believe something is true and they cannot go back and pull out the
facts to back up their assumptions.
Generally, the more intelligent and questioning a person is
the less likely they are going to be prone to false memory. A person who
questions the facts in any particular event can weigh and balance alternative
explanations and then rest on that explanation which is most logical. They may
even resign that something is the most logical explanation and they believe it
to be true but that alternative explanations are possible.
There is also a way to actually overcome false memory in
people through the use of technology. A
memory creates skin conductance because it is controlled automatically by the
central nervous system. Something that never really happened would have a lower
level of skin conductance than something that was actually stored within the
brain. This helps people who accidentally associate false memories with true
events separate the two through the vividness of the fact.
At present the study was only conducted on mice but does
open the possibility of creating and changing memories. Perhaps there will
someday be a medical use for this process in helping people overcome trauma or
change previously learned negative stimulation to positive stimulation such as
a phobia. The study will likely be repeated to create validity and additional
data before being tried on more complex mammals.
Ramirez, et. al (2013). Creating a false memory in the
hippocampus. Science, 341 (6144).
You may read the abstract here or purchase the full article
HERE
