With $7M grant from NIH, UCLA scientists to study if brain stimulation during sleep can bolster memory

Key takeaways:A UCLA neurosurgeon and artificial intelligence expert will collaborate to study how the brain forms lasting memories.After identifying a memory ’s electrical signals, researchers will test whether they can improve that memory using electrical stimulation.Scientists hope the technique colud one day potentially help people with memory disorders.Sleep plays an important role in how the brain consolidates short-term memories from the previous day into enduring ones. But exactly how that process occurs remains a mystery.   A new study led by UCLA scientists could help answer that question. Their research will aim to identify the electrical activity that occurs as the brain receives information and then test whether targeted, gentle electrical stimulation to the brain can strengthen a specific memory when that information is processed later.   Lead researcher Dr. Itzhak Fried, a professor of neurosurgery and director of UCLA ’s epilepsy surgery program, said the study could advance how scientists understand and enhance the neural mechanisms involved in memory formation. That information could be critical at a time when the world’s aging population is poised to intensify the already stark toll of memory disorders.  “Memory to a large extent makes us who we are, and we know neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease are going to become more and more prevalent,” Fried said.UCLA HealthDr. Itzhak FriedThe study is funded by a five-year, $7 million g...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news