How returning to a prior context aids memory recall

Wednesday, December 12, 2018 - 15:30 in Psychology & Sociology

Whether it’s the pleasant experience of returning one’s childhood home over the holidays or the unease of revisiting a site that proved unpleasant, we often find that when we return to a context where an episode first happened, specific and vivid memories can come flooding back. In a new study in the journal Neuron, scientists from the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT are reporting the discovery of a mechanism the brain may be employing to make that phenomenon occur. “Suppose you are driving home in the evening and encounter a beautiful orange twilight in the sky, which reminds you of the great vacation you had a few summers ago at a Caribbean island,” says study senior author Susumu Tonegawa, the Picower Professor of Biology and Neuroscience at MIT. “This initial recall could be a general recall of the vacation. But moments later, you may get reminded of details of some specific...

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