Researchers at the University of Basel have discovered a direct link between activity in certain brain regions, such as the hippocampus, and memory performance using the world's largest functional imaging study of memory, involving nearly 1,500 people. The findings suggest that people with better memories have greater brain activation, which could have implications for future research linking biological characteristics to brain signals.
While specific areas of the brain have been identified as critical for memory function, it has been unknown whether these areas show different levels of activity related to information storage in people with different memory abilities.
A research team led by Professors Dominique de Quervain and Andreas Papasotiropoulos studied this issue and has now published the results in the journal Nature Communications.
In the world's largest functional imaging study of memory, they asked nearly 1,500 participants aged 18 to 35 to view and remember a total of 72 images. During this process, the researchers used MRI technology to record the subjects' brain activity. The researchers then asked the subjects to recall as many of these images as possible, and found that, like the average person, the subjects' memory abilities varied widely.
In certain brain regions, including the hippocampus, researchers have found direct links between brain activity during memory and subsequent memory performance. People with better memories have higher activation of these brain areas. No such link was found in other memory-related brain regions in the occipital cortex—they were equally active in individuals with different levels of memory.
The researchers also discovered functional networks in the brain related to memory performance. These networks are composed of different brain areas that communicate with each other to enable complex processes such as information storage.
"These findings help us better understand how individual differences in memory performance arise," said Dr. Leonie Gassmann, lead author of the study.
The researchers believe these results have important implications for future research linking biological characteristics such as genetic markers to brain signals.
The current study is part of a larger research project carried out by the Molecular and Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group (MCN) at the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel and the Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Basel (UPK). The aim of the project is to better understand memory processes and translate findings from basic research into clinical applications.