Brain Doesn't Remember Events—It Relives Them

Study records evidence supporting long-suspected memory pathway

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 5, 2008 9:19 AM CDT

(Newser) – Scientists for the first time have observed how brain cells drum up a memory, and the findings buttress the notion that our minds don't so much remember events as relive them. When recalling short film clips they had seen, patients' brains repeated the same pattern of neuron activity they experienced while first watching the film, the New York Times reports.

This study, to be published in Science, confirms the idea that recollection represents the brain re-activating the same pathway that lit up during an event. The results, deemed "a foundational finding" by one psychologist, could have implications on Alzheimer's research. “It’s astounding to see this in a single trial; the phenomenon is strong," says the study's lead author.

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The neurons recorded in the new study weren't acting on their own: as with all of the brain's processes, memory relies on a complex interconnected chain of nerve cells. (Flickr)

The new study looked at the brains of epilepsy patients being prepped for surgery, a setup that allowed researchers to attach electrodes directly to the memory region of the brain. (Flickr)

Researchers were able to monitor individual neurons in the brain as they fired while subjects watched video clips, and predict the memory retrieved later by matching patterns of activity. (Flickr)

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It’s a really central piece of the memory puzzle and an important step in helping us fill in the detail of what exactly is happening when the brain performs this mental time travel. - Michael J Kahana, Psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania

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Brain Doesn't Remember Events—It Relives Them