Our brains are constantly changing, making it hard for scientists to determine the exact changes made to formulate a memory or something learned.
A new study aimed to understand how information may be stored in the brain.
“Memory engram cells are groups of brain cells that, activated by specific experiences, change themselves to incorporate and thereby hold information in our brain. Reactivation of these ‘building blocks’ of memories triggers the recall of the specific experiences associated to them. The question is, how do engrams store meaningful information about the world?”
“In 21st century neuroscience, many of us like to think memories are being stored in engram cells, or their sub-components. This study argues that rather than looking for information within or at cells, we should search for information between cells, and that learning may work by altering the wiring diagram of the brain – less like a computer and more like a developing sculpture.
“In other words, the engram is not in the cell; the cell is in the engram.”
It would be interesting to know how many of our 86 billion neurons and 100 trillion connections are required to store various memories.
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