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Updated: 3/25/2007; 11:51:26 PM.

 








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Thursday, March 08, 2007

Is Your Memory Erased While You Sleep?
Scientists have a new theory about what happens in the brain when you snooze
By Nikhil Swaminathan

Science Image: sleep brain erase
Image: © ISTOCKPHOTO/LISE GAGNE
ERASE MODE:  Scientists speculate that during sleep, the neocortex drives the clearing of information stored in the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for episodic memory
For some 40 years, neuroscientists have believed that the brain forms memories by using a "sketch pad" to quickly record experiences and information learned throughout the day.

Stenographic duties, under this model, fall to the hippocampus, the two slightly curved sections of the brain located under the temporal lobe that are implicated in episodic memory. During sleep, the thinking goes, neurons in the hippocampus fire, driving a transfer of its information to the neocortex, the top layer of the cerebrum that serves as the brain's hard disk, or permanent storage bin. This model seemed to explain why people with hippocampus damage could recall old memories but could not create new ones.


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© Copyright 2007 John Giacobbe.



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