Unlocking Memory: Neuroscientists Reveal How the Brain Decides What To Remember

Recent research identifies “sharp wave-ripples” in the hippocampus as a brain mechanism that determines which daily experiences become permanent memories, with significant ripples during idle moments leading to memory consolidation during sleep.

Neuroscientists have discovered over the past few decades that the brain converts some of daily experiences into lasting memories during sleep that same night. A recent study introduces a mechanism that decides which memories are important enough to be preserved in the brain until sleep solidifies them permanently.

Led by researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the study revolves around brain cells called neurons that “fire” – or bring about swings in the balance of their positive and negative charges – to transmit electrical signals that encode memories. Large groups of neurons in a brain region called the hippocampus fire together in rhythmic cycles, creating sequences of signals within milliseconds of each other that can encode complex information.