ethics
01-24-2005, 10:34 PM
<a href="http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=000519BF-3128-11E8-A28583414B7F0000">Scientific Americans</a> looks into the human brain, trying to figure out why some events just tend to stick in our memories forever, while the others are gone:
<blockquote>"How does a gene "know" when to strengthen a synapse permanently and when to let a fleeting moment fade unrecorded? And how do the proteins encoded by the gene "know" which of thousands of synapses to strengthen? The same questions have implications for understanding fetal brain development, a time when the brain is deciding which synaptic connections to keep and which to discard. In studying that phenomenon, my lab came up with an intriguing solution to one of these mysteries of memory."</blockquote>
It's a bit "heavy" at times but skip over that and enjoy a miracle of the mind. It's truly fascinating and I doubt we will fully understand what makes us tick.
<blockquote>"How does a gene "know" when to strengthen a synapse permanently and when to let a fleeting moment fade unrecorded? And how do the proteins encoded by the gene "know" which of thousands of synapses to strengthen? The same questions have implications for understanding fetal brain development, a time when the brain is deciding which synaptic connections to keep and which to discard. In studying that phenomenon, my lab came up with an intriguing solution to one of these mysteries of memory."</blockquote>
It's a bit "heavy" at times but skip over that and enjoy a miracle of the mind. It's truly fascinating and I doubt we will fully understand what makes us tick.