There’s an old legend that tells of a peculiar and extreme method used centuries ago to ensure that significant events were never forgotten.
The story goes that after a crucial event like a land transfer, a wedding, or an important agreement, a child was chosen to witness the occasion and then immediately thrown into a river.
The shock and fear from this experience were believed to make the event unforgettable for the child.
While this method might seem harsh and unfathomable today, it hints at an important truth about memory that our ancestors may have intuitively understood: strong emotions can significantly enhance our ability to remember events.
For many years, scientists have explored how memories are formed and why some experiences stay with us while others fade away. Traditionally, the process of memory formation has been explained by the Hebbian model, named after the psychologist Donald Hebb.
According to this model, memories are created and strengthened when two neurons in the brain are activated at the same time, leading to a stronger connection between them.
This process is known as synaptic plasticity and is often summarized by the phrase, “neurons that fire together, wire together.”
However, recent research from Sadegh Nabavi’s lab at DANDRITE (Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience) suggests that the process of forming and strengthening memories is more complex than the Hebbian model alone can explain.
In a study published in the journal eLife, Nabavi and his team discovered that memories can be influenced not just by what happens at the moment an event occurs, but also by experiences that happen later—even if they are unrelated to the original memory.
This phenomenon is known as “heterosynaptic plasticity.” Unlike the traditional model, which focuses on the strengthening of specific synapses that are activated together, heterosynaptic plasticity shows that changes can occur in nearby synapses that were not directly involved in the original experience.
In other words, a memory can be strengthened or reinforced by subsequent events that trigger a strong emotional response, even if these events have nothing to do with the original memory.
The researchers found that these subsequent experiences could influence memory formation for up to a day after the initial event.
This means that memories are not as fixed or confined to a specific moment as once thought. Instead, they are fluid and can be shaped by both past and future experiences.
This new understanding of memory has important implications for how we approach learning and memory-related disorders.
If we can better understand how weak memories are strengthened by later experiences, we could develop new therapies and learning tools that help people improve their memory and cognitive function.
Looking back at the legend of the child thrown into the river, it seems that our ancestors may have had an early understanding of this concept, albeit in a much more dramatic way.
The extreme emotional response caused by the sudden immersion in the river likely did enhance the child’s memory of the event. Today, we are beginning to understand the scientific basis for this effect and how strong emotional experiences can indeed make certain memories more lasting.
In conclusion, while the methods of the past may seem extreme, they highlight a fundamental truth about memory that we are only now beginning to unravel: emotions play a crucial role in determining what we remember and how those memories are formed.
This knowledge opens up new possibilities for improving memory and learning, offering hope for better approaches to treating cognitive impairments and enhancing our overall understanding of the human brain.
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The research findings can be found in eLife.
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