Scientists at New York University (NYU) have found that not just brain cells but cells from other parts of the body can also keep memories. This discovery could change how we think about learning and help treat memory issues.
“Learning and memory are generally associated with brains and brain cells alone, but our study shows that other cells in the body can learn and form memories, too,” says researcher Nikolay Kukushkin in a NYU press release.
The scientists describe the methods and results of this study in a paper published in Nature Communications.
Neurons in the brain change their connections based on what we learn, and this process works better when we learn things over time rather than all at once.
The scientists looked at cells from nerve tissue and kidney tissue to see if these cells could also learn and remember. The scientists gave these cells different patterns of chemicals, similar to how neurons in the brain get signals when we learn.
When these cells got these chemical signals in a pattern that looked like learning over time, they turned on a memory gene. This gene is the same one that brain cells use when they are forming a memory.
The entire body learns and remembers
To watch this happen, the scientists made these cells glow when the memory gene was active. They found that when the chemical signals came in spaced intervals, the memory gene stayed on longer and stronger than when the signals were given all at once. This showed that these non-brain cells could also benefit from spaced learning, just like brain cells do.
This suggests that our entire body as capable of learning and remembering, not just our brains, which might change medical treatments and educational methods in the future.
“This discovery opens new doors for understanding how memory works and could lead to better ways to enhance learning and treat memory problems,” observes Kukushkin.
Kukushkin posted a thread to X with explanations and comments on this research.