Centuries ago, legends claimed that a child might be forced to witness a major event and then be tossed into a river so they would never forget it. The hypothetical method was brutal, but the reasoning behind it carries a kernel of truth: emotionally charged experiences tend to sear themselves into our memory far deeper than ordinary ones.
Modern science is showing that these legends may have been onto something. For decades, the dominant explanation of learning has been the Hebbian model, which holds that only simultaneous activation at the same synapse can strengthen a memory. This model would not be able to account for reinforcement of a major event by a traumatic experience occurring even a short period of time later.
However, researchers led by Sadegh Nabavi have revealed that this isn’t the whole story. Their findings show that even unrelated experiences can reinforce memories. If a weak or insignificant experience is followed within a day by something highly emotional or stimulating, the original memory may become stronger. This process, called heterosynaptic plasticity, allows the brain to reshape connections beyond the specific neurons involved in the initial event.
In other words, a memory does not exist in isolation. What happens later, or even somewhere else in the brain, can influence whether an experience sticks or fades away.
This discovery has powerful implications. It could help guide new approaches for supporting people with cognitive decline. By finding ways to pair weak memories with stronger, emotionally significant ones, scientists may be able to improve learning tools and treatments.
Perhaps the old legends were not just strange folklore, but an early recognition that unforgettable experiences are tied to emotion. Now, science is confirming that memory is just as much about feeling as it is about fact.
Tags: brain, cognition, emotion, feelings, memoryCategorised in: Uncategorized
This post was written by Christine Rizk