Chapter 9 – Memory Inc.
Summary
This chapter focused on Eric Kandel’s experiment with sea slugs and finding out where memory is actually located and how it behaves in the mind. He discovered a molecule now known as CREB that acts as the bind in the brain for memory connections. His research eventually led to pharmaceutical companies looking for ways to stave off memory loss from old age. Slater pointed out, however, that the brain has a natural need to forget and that such a drug could do a lot of unpredicted damage.
Summary
This chapter focused on Eric Kandel’s experiment with sea slugs and finding out where memory is actually located and how it behaves in the mind. He discovered a molecule now known as CREB that acts as the bind in the brain for memory connections. His research eventually led to pharmaceutical companies looking for ways to stave off memory loss from old age. Slater pointed out, however, that the brain has a natural need to forget and that such a drug could do a lot of unpredicted damage.
Discussion
The way the brain works has been a pretty fascinating topic for me for a long time. I read once that memories in the brain are not stored in anything, but instead reside in the synapses between brain cells. This makes a little more sense now after reading this chapter. But, I think I might have read wrong. It seems more that the connections of certain cells lead to these memories. Either way, the actual act of memory is triggered by electrical pulses through the brain, and this is really amazing to me. And as a side note, I am not so sure I would want to take a drug that induced lost memories. I agree with Slater that there is no telling what something like this could do to a person.
The way the brain works has been a pretty fascinating topic for me for a long time. I read once that memories in the brain are not stored in anything, but instead reside in the synapses between brain cells. This makes a little more sense now after reading this chapter. But, I think I might have read wrong. It seems more that the connections of certain cells lead to these memories. Either way, the actual act of memory is triggered by electrical pulses through the brain, and this is really amazing to me. And as a side note, I am not so sure I would want to take a drug that induced lost memories. I agree with Slater that there is no telling what something like this could do to a person.
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