Marin Snails suggests, lost memories might be restored

New research indicates that lost memories can be restored, according to new research into a type of marine snail called Aplysia. The findings offer some hope for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. For decades, most neuroscientists have believed that memories are stored at the synapses the connections between brain cells, or neurons which are destroyed by Alzheimer’s disease. The new study provides evidence contradicting the idea that long-term memory is stored at synapses. Long-term memory is not stored at the synapse. Long-term memory is a function of the growth of new synaptic connections caused by the serotonin. Glanzman’s research team studies a type of marine snail called Aplysia to understand the animal’s learning and memory. The Aplysia displays a defensive response to protect its gill from potential harm, and the researchers are especially interested in its withdrawal reflex and the sensory and motor neurons that produce it. They enhanced the snail’s withdrawal reflex by giving it several mild electrical shocks on its tail.That’s a radical idea, but that’s where the evidence leads. The nervous system appears to be able to regenerate lost synaptic connections. If you can restore the synaptic connections, the memory will come back. It won’t be easy, but scientists believe it’s possible. Almost all the processes that are involved in memory in the snail also have been shown to be involved in memory in the brains of mammals.