The memory system alternates between periods of learning and remembering. These two functions are controlled by different neural circuits. Using an animal model, scientists from the Institut Pasteur recently identified a neural signal in the hippocampus, a brain region essential for forming and recalling memories, that enables the brain to alternate between remembering and learning modes. The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications on July 15, 2022.
As we go about our lives, our brain continually remembers information that we have learnt in the past and uses it to make sense of the world in the present. However, we also often encounter objects and events that we have never experienced before, and then the brain needs to be ready to learn. These two essential functions of our brain’s memory system, learning and remembering, seem to constantly compete against each…
