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You pass an exam and you do not remember the answer know is in your brain somewhere. A new study suggests that a quick zap on a region of your prefrontal cortex could help you find the missing memory.
So, perhaps the use of this in practice is more science fiction than science at this stage, but new research has helped neuroscientists pin down an area of the brain from which we retrieve our memories.
The study, led by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), focused specifically on the left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain behind the forehead, between the eyebrow and the hairline, and – as its name suggests – on the left side of the head (in those who dominate the right hand).
It has already been theorized to participate in high-level thinking, including monitoring information collected in other areas of the brain.
"Our previous neuroimaging studies showed that the left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex was heavily engaged in memory recovery," says Jesse Rissman, a research psychologist at UCLA and one of the researchers.
"Now, the fact that people perform better this memory task when we excite this region with electrical stimulation provides a causal proof that it contributes to the act of memory recovery."
The researchers divided 72 participants into three groups and then tested them on two consecutive days. The team was testing three different things: memory, reasoning and perception.
On the first day, participants were shown 80 different words and techniques to remember them.
On the second day, the researchers tested the groups on these 80 words, with the participants being tested to measure their memory, reasoning and perception. But the three groups received three different conditions: they either have an inefficient light zap (the control), a zap to increase the excitability of the neurons in the left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, or a different type of zap to decrease it .
By the way, the "zap" is not as terrifying as one might think. This technique is called transcranial direct current stimulation and, according to the researchers, provides a warm tingling sensation.
The team found that neither the reasoning nor the perception was significantly better in the zapped group "increased excitability", but they found that their memory was much better – 15.4% higher in the results of their scores.
"We did not think that the application of low electrical stimulation of the brain would make their memories perfect, but the fact that their performance has increased as much as it has been is surprising and it is an encouraging sign that this method could potentially be used to improve people's memory. "said Rissman.
"We also predicted that the reasoning task could improve with the increased excitability, which was not the case." We did not think this brain area would be important for the task of perception. "
But the researchers explain that this is not the only region of the brain that recovers memories. Our brains are incredibly complex organs, and we are still just touching them.
"We have seen a dramatic improvement in memory performance by increasing the excitability of this region," Rissman said.
"We believe this area of the brain is particularly important for accessing and making decisions about the knowledge you have formed in the past."
And whatever you do, do not try that at home. "Science is still in its infancy," warns Rissman.
The research was published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
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