Study identifies new type of memory neuron

Tessa Koumoundouros (ScienceAlert); Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Why not experiment on my vivisected brain, a little Babe ready to be tortured for science?

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Study identifies a brand-new type of neuron involved in important memories

T.O.R.O. (© Sarandy Westfall/Unsplash).

With almost 90 billion neurons in human brains [and countless more in the lining of the heart and gut], it's no wonder we're still piecing together much about how these various types of cells do their work.

A team of neuroscientists has now identified another neuron flavor in mice and its place in the complex circuitry of mammalian brains.

[Where are our most important memories stored? Not in the body but mitigated by neurons.]

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These cells are located in the hippocampus – part of the brain heavily involved in learning and memory.

The researchers have named this type of neuron Theta-Off Ripple-On (TORO) after its activity pattern. "TORO-neurons propagate the sharp wave ripples information broadly in the brain and signal that a memory event occurred," says Aarhus University neuroscientist Marco Capogna.

These sharp wave ripples are created in the hippocampus and are thought to be how the brain conveys a major event in episodic memory – like our first kiss, for example. They appear as high-frequency electrical spikes of brainwaves in electrographic recordings, as seen above (Szabo et al., Neuron, 2022).

TORO activity appears to synchronize along with these types of spikes. Source

• Mouse study identifies new type of neuron (MSN)
• sciencealert.com