Increased Memory

[belovelife]

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/6AEWdM/:mbJHxZkc:Y_G7bj5S/io9.com/5306489/a-drug-that-could-give-you-perfect-visual-memory?skyline=true&s=x/

[SaxonViolence]

What does it say?

 

The link is dead for me.

 

Saxon Violence

[belovelife]

A group of Spanish researchers reported today in Science that they may have stumbled upon a substance that could become the ultimate memory-enhancer. The group was studying a poorly-understood region of the visual cortex. They found that if they boosted production of a protein called RGS-14 (pictured) in that area of the visual cortex in mice, it dramatically affected the animals' ability to remember objects they had seen.

 

Mice with the RGS-14 boost could remember objects they had seen for up to two months. Ordinarily the same mice would only be able to remember these objects for about an hour.

 

The researchers concluded that this region of the visual cortex, known as layer six of region V2, is responsible for creating visual memories. When the region is removed, mice can no longer remember any object they see.

 

If this protein boosts visual memory in humans, the implications are staggering. In their paper, the researchers say that it could be used as a memory-enhancer – which seems like an understatement. What's particularly intriguing is the fact that this protein works on visual memory only. So as I mentioned earlier, it would be perfect for mapping. It would also be useful for engineers and architects who need to hold a lot of visual images in their minds at once. And it would also be a great drug for detectives and spies.

 

 

[CraigD]

What does it say?

It’s a 7 Jul 2009 Mad Science blog/article about the RGS14 protein (which was discovered, along with the gene that codes for it and a fair idea of its function, ca 2002) and the parts of the visual cortex with which it interacts (among other brain areas, such as the hippocampus).

 

Elevating it in mouse brains causes them to remember things they see longer than normal. Damaging the brain centers with which it interacts causes them to remember them more briefly than normal, or not at all.

 

Interestingly, more recent research shows that suppressing the gene so that mice have less RGS14 than normal also improves their memories, for tasks such as getting through mazes (see Disabling The RGS14 Gene Makes Mice Smarter) prompting researchers to describe it as “the Homer Simpson gene”.

 

So, it doesn’t look like nootropic drug enthusiasts’ hopes that shooting our brain full of RGS14 can make us smarter aren’t well founded, thought maybe knocking out the RGS14 gene so we have less of the protein would – though it might also make us insane. It might also make the mice to which it’s been done insane, though apparently it’s difficult to tell if a mouse is insane.

 

Given that increasing RGS14 seems to improve “visual memory”, while decreasing it seems to improve “cognitive memory”, I wonder if there is an inverse relationship between visual memory and general intelligence? Could people with above average general intelligence tend to have below average visual memory, and vice-versa? Could this be a neuroscientific basis for the folk idea that people good at art usually aren’t good at science, and vice-versa? Or of the cognitive psych idea of 2 distinct modes of thought and communication, gestalt (corresponding to vision) and serial (corresponding to language, or sequences, such as maze running)?

 

The link is dead for me.

Odd. It works for me.