How Brain Cues May Affect Memory

A new study from the UT Dallas Center for Vital Longevity has shown that the brain activity prior to seeing an item is related to how well it is later remembered. In addition, the researchers found that the activity in different areas of the brain is also related to how the information was remembered. Dr. Richard Addante, a senior lecturer in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and lead author of the paper, says that a way to help improve memory is by knowing the factors that make memory worse and the factors that make it better. For the experiment, the participants decided which of two words or pictures would fit inside the other, and functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to look at the participants' brains. Before the participants did this, however, and "X" would show up if the items would be presented as words or an "O" if the items would be presented as pictures. 20 minutes after each participant did his or her experiment, they were tested to see how well they remembered the pairs of items. The experiment concluded that the brain activity prior to seeing an item is related to how well it is later remembered, and that the activity in different areas of the brain is also related to how the information was remembered. I chose to use this article because I am interesting in how the brain works and especially how it affects memory. I liked how the researchers did not only find that brain activity prior to seeing an item is related to how well it is later remembered, but that they also found that the activity in different areas of the brain is also related to how the information was remembered.

University of Texas at Dallas. (2014, December 3). Brain study uncovers new clues on how cues may affect memory. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 7, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141203084059.htm