Forgetting Is Key To Learning (For Flies), Study Finds

Scientists have known that newly acquired, short-term memories are often fleeting, but a new study of Drosophila in Cell suggests that there is a good reason for that kind of forgetfulness. An active process of erasing memories may be as important as the ability to lay down new memories. "Learning activates the biochemical formation of memory," says Yi Zhong of Tsinghua University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. "But you need to remove memories for new information to come in. We've found that forgetting is an active process to remove memory." read more

Read the whole article on

More from