For the first time , a non - human animal has demonstrate the power to recall event from their past times and utilise them to serve an unexpected question . The discovery descend after the possibility was first explored six years ago and could potentially unlock fresh treatment boulevard for patient with memory red ink .
Episodicmemoryis the string of past experiences in our lives that we can recall as specific events . From your 16thbirthday party to your best protagonist ’s wedding ceremony , and even where you parked your car this morning , that ’s all catch as occasional memory . We can access details about these issue much later , even if they did n’t seem so important at the time .
We know from study thatvarious animalsalso possess this type of retentiveness , and a2018 studyfrom a squad at Indiana University was the first to report that rats can mentally play back a series of events from their past , just as humans can . The same team has now delved into this further and discovered that the rodents can access these memories and use them to their advantage .
The radial maze the rats had to navigate.Image credit: Mike Jackson
Ratsmay not seem to be the most obvious exemplar organism to examine this on – archpriest might seem like a more human - like starting point – but first generator Cassandra Sheridan disagrees .
“ Using rats can help further the field of operations of memory by providing a way to place and measure behavioral patterns and modification that are more sophisticated and complex than mouse modelling , as well as model diseases like Alzheimer ’s to test treatments before they reach out the clinical stages , ” Sheridan excuse in astatement . “ This is what I am most excited about . ”
Working with Professor Jonathon Crystal , who also supervised the 2018 study , Sheridan and colleagues created an experimentation that would require the rat to use not only their episodic memory board , but also theirimpressive nose .
First , the nine rats were presented with a selection of common spices one by one , includingcinnamonand paprika . They then underwent a storage assessment , whereby they were read two of the scents and then had to select which scent was the third - to - last that they had smelled .
The scab were then put into a radial maze that contained spice containers with scented lids . After sniffing around the labyrinth , they were once again given the chance to identify the third - to - last perfume from the original list .
The researchers only had to melt the experiment once : every single rat answered the query aright after their time in the maze , giving a succeeder pace of an astonishing 100 percent .
“ What we wanted to test is a holding of what multitude do in everyday life that has never been shown in a non - human fauna , ” enounce Crystal . “ We remember information even though it was seemingly unimportant when it was encountered . When we happen to involve that selective information , we play back the stream of events to identify the information needed to work out our current problem . ”
The finding not only order us more about the impressive cognitive abilities of rat , but they could also have important implications for research into human disease . Many drug forAlzheimer ’s diseasethat are tested in animals ultimately do not succeed in human trial . Crystal believe that this could be due to a deficiency of specific focus on episodic memory , and hopes that the squad ’s findings could help inform thenext generationof treatments .
“ What you really require to acknowledge when you quiz Alzheimer ’s affected role is that there is relief in remember that their granddaughter natter last workweek and verbalise about interesting things go on in her life sentence . Those are the things that are going to produce huge social changes when the drugs are good , not just at general aspect of memory but specifically targeting episodic memory board . ”
The subject is published in the journalCurrent Biology .
