To explore how the brain encodes memories, neurobiologists at the Scripps Research Institute created a new memory in a mouse, by mixing two separate experiences of its past. The experiment reveals just how malleable memory can be.
The team, led by Mark Mayford, created a mouse with a specific gene that produces the protein hM3Dq when nerve cells with this gene become active, leaving the protein attached to the cell. Mayford could then selectively reactivate those cells whenever he wanted, simply by giving the mouse a drug known as clozapine-N-oxide (CNO), which interacts with hM3Dq.
He used this setup to interfere with a mouse’s memory of two distinct places and create an artificial blended memory that combined both places. In his experiment, he put the mouse into a box with a memorable odor and color: For example, let’s say it smelled like lemon and had a striped floor. While the ...
