A study that defines a brain region that maintains 'frightening memories'

A research team at the Zuckerman Institute at the American University of Colombia has succeeded in revealing a brain region, playing a decisive role in storing memories related to fear and threat. The discovery published in the journal “Nature Neuroscience” provides strong evidence that this region – known as CA2 – works as a kind of “archive” of frightening negative memories, a discovery that would provide new visions on memory work mechanisms and the development of mental disorders. The CA2 in the strongholds is considered the gateway to social memory, as it plays an important role in the formation and storage of memories associated with social interactions by forming strong nervous links between events and people. This region helps identify the faces of friends and enemies, and remembers the previous interaction with them, and thus contributes to the formation of our social identity and directs our behavior in interaction with others. Discrimination of danger of safety is a very important matter, not only in our daily lives, but also to understand the mental disorders associated with others, such as social anxiety, or post -traumatic disorder. At the beginning of the study, the researchers asked how the brain distinguished the differences between danger and safety, and focused on two main areas within the horses: the CA2 region, responsible for social memory, remember other individuals and the CA1 region related to remembering places. For the first time, scientists were able to prove that the CA1 and CA2 regions have coded places, and people related to imminent experiences, and according to the study, the results show that the CA2 region is not satisfied with the remembering of individuals, but also the most complicated aspects of social memory, such as whether or not the other is a danger. “It is necessary for all beings living in social societies, including mice and people, to have a social memory that helps her avoid future harmful experiences with others, while she stays open to individuals who can be helpful.” Casaian explains that frightening memories play an important role in survival; Because it helps to maintain safety. To check the source of frightening social memories in the brain, the researchers designed a simple experience; The mice got two options: either to go to a specific place where they meet a strange mouse, receive a light electric shock, or go to another place where the meeting is safe with another mouse, and the mice quickly learned to avoid the places and individuals associated with shock, and these memories remained for more than 24 hours. To determine the places where these memories are stored in the strongholds, scientists have genetically changed the mice to selectively disrupt the CA1 or CA2 areas, and the results were surprising; When the researchers disrupted the CA1 area, the mice can no longer remember the place where they were shocked, but they could remember the mouse related to the threat, but when Ca2 was disrupted, the mice remembered the place where they were shocked, but they became afraid of both mice, without distinguishing between the safe and the threat. The treatment of mental disorders These results indicate that the CA2 region helps mice to remember whether past experiences with others are safe or threatened, and the results of previous research that showed the role of the CA1 area in the storage of spatial memory. The new study indicates that the failure to distinguish the safe individuals from the threats is related to mental disorders such as social anxiety and post -trauma deviation. Previous studies also indicate that there is an imbalance in the functions of the CA2 region in people with schizophrenia and autism, contributing to the rise of the characteristic symptoms of these cases, such as hallucinations, schizophrenia misconceptions, communication problems and social interaction in autism. The researchers say that it is possible that the symptoms of social withdrawal are the result of the inability to distinguish between what is a threat, and which does not pose the danger, and that they also indicate that the target of the CA2 may be a useful way to diagnose or treat disorders related to others. To understand the role these places play in developing new treatments for mental disorders related to fear of others.