As is known, when people get older, their memories pages often stop working as they did before. People begin to lose track of their daily movements and can forget what they did just a few minutes ago. But in recent years, thanks to the new imaging method, scientists have begun to understand why a working memory deficit has occurred. These experiences are useful because they help doctors treat and prevent memory loss that occurs as a result of age.
In recent years, it has been proven by researchers working in the field of human memory that a common genetic variant can affect memory by changing the growth factor in the center of the human brain’s memory. Participants who had a specific copy of the BDNF encoding gene (neuron-derived brain) were shown to be worse on episodic memory tests. These types of tests try to get patients to remember what happened the day before. This may be explained by the limited movement and secretion of BDNF in cells. As research has shown, BDNF plays a significant role in the function of the hippocampus in humans.
But that is not all. BDNF also plays a significant role in determining animal memory capacity. To determine whether the same thing would hold up in humans, researchers looked at BDNF differences in human genes. Individuals inherit two copies of this gene – one for each of their parents. Weak memory has been linked to a BDNF release called “met”, which is inherited by just over a third of all humans. Whereas most BDNF contains valine, and therefore are called “val”, “met” includes an amino acid called methionine where valine is supposed to exist. It was found that this only substitution of amino acid has a profound effect on the hippocampus, which affects human memory.
The “met” effect not only affects memory but also disturbs other biological functions in the human brain and can pose a risk of other disorders of the hippocampus, including mood disorders and Alzheimer’s disease. However, it does not make one more likely to develop schizophrenia.
In 1997, a remarkable discovery was made by researchers at Stanford University. They found a group of neurons separated by only a few inches involved in two vital but separate aspects of memory in humans. Using a technique known as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it was discovered that people trying to encode information in the form of mind were using the back of the hippocampus in the brain, while there was more activity in the frontal area when people were trying to keep information stored in memory.
Since coding and retrieving information is vital to the learning process, this has been great news – not to mention the fact that it can also be beneficial, as it is generally believed that the coding and retrieval process is one of the first to be affected by an Alzheimer’s attack in patients.
