How the brain remembers fearful experiences
"We recall memories all the time," said senior author Dr. Daoyun Ji, associate professor of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor. "For example, I can recall the route I take from home to work every morning, but what are the brain signals at this moment when I hold this memory in my mind?" Studying the workings of the brain in people is difficult, so scientists have turned to the laboratory rat. They have learned that when the animal is in a particular place, neurons in the hippocampus, appropriately called place cells, generate pulses of activity. "A number of place cells generates electrical activity called a 'spiking pattern,'" Ji said. "When the rat is in a certain place, a group of neurons generates a specific pattern of spikes and when it moves to a different place, a different group of neurons generates another pattern of spikes. The patterns are very distinct. We can predict where the animal is by looking at its pattern of ...