3D brain to unravel how memories are made

To unlock the mystery how memories are formed, researchers have developed a new method for creating 3D models of memory-relevant brain structures.

The technique facilitates the reconstruction of the hippocampus - one of the oldest brain regions that enables us to form personal memories - as a 3D model on the computer.

"This approach is quite unique because it enables automatic calculation of the neural interconnection on the basis of their position inside the space and their projection directions," explained Martin Pyka from the Mercator Research Group at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.

Biologically feasible network structures can thus be generated more easily than it used to be the case with the method available to date.

Deploying 3D models, researchers used this technique to monitor the way neural signals spread throughout the network time-wise.

They have found evidence that the hippocampus' form and size could explain why neurons in those networks fire in certain frequencies.

"In future, this method may help us understand how animals combine various information to form memories within the hippocampus in order to memorise food sources or dangers and to remember them in certain situations," Pyka maintained.

The paper appeared in the journal Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.