UB scientists believe that electrostimulation can improve the working memory in humans

UB scientists believe that electrostimulation can improve the working memory in humans

In an innovative study published in Nature NeuroscienceRob Reinhart, badistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University and John Nguyen, a doctoral researcher at the BU, demonstrate that electrostimulation can improve the working memory of 70-year-olds, so their performance in memorization tasks can not be distinguished from those of 20 years -Thank you.

Reinhart and Nguyen's research focuses on working memory – the part of the mind where consciousness lives, the active part every time we make decisions, reason and recall our grocery lists. Working memory begins to decline in the late twenties and early thirties, says Reinhart, as some areas of the brain become progressively disconnected and poorly coordinated. By the time we reach our 60s and 70s, these neural circuits have deteriorated enough that many of us have significant cognitive difficulties, even in the absence of dementia such as Alzheimer 's disease. Alzheimer.

But the duo has discovered something amazing: by using electric currents to noninvasively stimulate areas of the brain that have lost their rhythm, we can dramatically improve the performance of working memory.

During the study, funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, they asked a group of people in their twenties and a group of 60 and 70 years to perform a series of memory tasks that required them to view an image. after a brief pause, to determine if a second image was slightly different from the original.

Initially, young adults were much more specific in this respect, considerably exceeding the older group. However, when the elderly received 25 minutes of soft stimulation delivered by scalp electrodes and customized according to their own brain circuits, the difference between the two groups disappeared. Even more encouraging? This increase in memory lasted at least until the end of the 50-minute time window after the stimulation – the moment the experiment ended.

To understand why this technique is so effective, we need to look at the two mechanisms that allow the working memory to function properly: coupling and synchronization.

Coupling occurs when different types of brain rhythms coordinate, which helps us to process and store working memories. Slow and low-frequency rhythms – theta rhythms – dance in front of your brain, acting as orchestra conductors. They join faster, high-frequency rhythms called gamma, which are generated in the region of the brain that processes the world around us.

Just like a musical band contains flutes, oboes, violins, the gamma rhythms that reside in your brain each contribute to something unique in the orchestra at the electricity that creates your memories. For example, a gamma rhythm can process the color of an object that you keep in your mind, while another captures the shape, another its orientation and another sound.

But when orchestra conductors pummel with their batons – when theta rhythms lose the ability to connect to these gamma rhythms to monitor, nurture and educate them – the melodies in the brain begin to disintegrate and our memories lose their acuity.

Meanwhile, synchronization – when the theta rhythms of different areas of the brain synchronize – allows separate areas of the brain to communicate with each other. This process serves as a glue for a memory, combining individual sensory details to create a coherent memory. As we age, our theta rhythms become less synchronized and the fabric of our memories begins to fray.

The works of Reinhart and Nguyen suggest that by using electrical stimulation, we can restore those pathways that tend to spoil with age, enhancing our ability to remember our experiences by restoring the flow of energy. information in the brain. And this technique is not the only one to benefit older adults: it is also promising for the youngest.

In the study, 14 of the young adult participants performed memory tasks poorly despite their age – so he called them back to stimulate their brains.

"We have shown that the underperforming, much younger and in their twenties, could also benefit from the same kind of stimulation," Reinhart said. "We could improve their working memory even if they were not in their sixties or sixties."

Coupling and synchronization, he adds, exist on a continuum: "It's not like there were people who are not in a relationship as opposed to people in a relationship."

At one end of the spectrum, a person with incredible memory can be excellent for synchronization and coupling, while a person with Alzheimer's would probably have serious difficulties with both. Others lie between these two extremes – for example, you might be a weak coupler but a powerful synchronizer, or vice versa.

And when we use this stimulation to modify the neuronal symphonies, we do not make only minor modifications, emphasizes Reinhart. "It's relevant from a behavioral point of view. [people are] perform the tasks differently, they memorize things better, they perceive better, they learn faster. It's really extraordinary. "

In the future, he plans various future applications for his work.

"This opens a new avenue for potential research and treatment options," he says, "and we are very excited about it."

Reinhart would like to study the effects of electrostimulation on individual brain cells by applying it to animal models. It is curious how repeated doses of stimulation could strengthen brain circuits in humans. Most importantly, he hopes that his discovery will one day lead to treatment for the millions of people with cognitive disabilities worldwide, especially those with Alzheimer's disease.

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This story was published on: 2019-04-13. To contact the author, please use the contact information in the article.

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