Have you ever wonder how some odors can trigger a certain memory? Even memories that happened years ago. A new study has investigated which brain area is responsible for storing these types of memories and the mechanism behind this process.

In a recent study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, scientists wanted to investigate the mechanism behind storing odors as long term memories. They found that the piriform cortex, a section of the olfactory brain, is involved in saving those memories, but in order to begin the process of storing those memories, the piriform cortex needs to interact with other brain areas first. For a memory to be created, there is a communication process between neurons that altered. This process is called synaptic plasticity. In order to investigate this mechanism, researchers studied if the piriform cortex of rats is capable of expressing synaptic plasticity that lasted for longer than four hours, which indicates long term memory storage. The scientists used published protocols that are known to stimulate long term memory storage. These protocols used electric impulses to emulate the process of olfactory sensations as memories and used different frequencies and intensities to see if other areas of the brain could be stimulated as well. Interestingly, researchers noticed that these experiments did not elicit long term storage in the form of a synaptic plasticity in the piriform cortex. This observation lead scientists to consider the need of the of the piriform cortex to be instructed by another area of the brain in order to create a long term memory. They then decided to stimulate a higher brain area called the orbitofrontal cortex. This area of the brain is responsible for discriminating between different sensory experiences. Researchers then observed that stimulation of this area of the brain generated the desired effect in the piriform cortex, indicating that the orbitofrontal cortex is responsible for instructing the piriform cortex to store the odor as a memory.

In the Piriform Cortex, the Primary Impetus for Information Encoding through Synaptic Plasticity Is Provided by Descending Rather than Ascending Olfactory Inputs (December 2017)

New to the GenScript newspage? Feel free to take a look at our Protein Expression and our Recombinant Antibodies service pages.