New findings challenge the idea that only the brain and brain cells are responsible for learning and memory. A team of researchers, led by Nikolay V. Kukushkin of New York University, has discovered that non-brain cells—cells from other areas of the body—can also retain information and demonstrate a form of memory. This insight opens up significant new pathways in understanding how memory operates throughout the body, with potential implications for improving learning and treating memory-related conditions.
Memory and learning are processes usually thought to occur solely within the brain. However, the team’s research, published in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that memory capabilities may be present in various cell types beyond the brain. This study explores the idea that certain non-brain cells in the body might also “learn” through patterns of chemical signaling, similar to the way brain cells learn through exposure to neurotransmitters.
In their experiments, the scientists sought to see if these cells could exhibit the massed-spaced effect, a well-known principle in neuroscience. The massed-spaced effect demonstrates that information is better retained when study or exposure occurs in spaced intervals, rather than in a single concentrated session. For example, when studying for an exam, people tend to retain more information when they study over time rather than cramming all the material in one sitting. This principle, long considered specific to brain function, was tested on non-brain cells to determine if they might demonstrate a similar response.
To investigate, researchers worked with two different types of non-brain human cells in a lab setting. One type came from nerve tissue outside the brain, and the other was from kidney tissue. The researchers exposed these cells to different patterns of chemical signals, simulating the type of exposure brain cells encounter when learning new information. They observed whether these non-brain cells would activate the “memory gene,” a gene that is typically switched on when brain cells detect a repeating pattern and adjust their internal structure to form a memory.
To track this process, the team engineered the cells to produce a glowing protein whenever the memory gene was activated, allowing them to monitor how and when the gene turned on or off in response to the chemical signals. The results were remarkable: the non-brain cells activated the memory gene in response to spaced-out chemical pulses, similar to how brain cells react to learning. In fact, when the chemical signals were administered at spaced intervals, the memory gene stayed active for a longer period than when the pulses were delivered all at once. This response demonstrated that the cells could distinguish between prolonged exposure and intermittent bursts, much like how neurons in the brain respond better to information when breaks are taken during learning sessions.
Kukushkin explains that this finding mirrors the massed-space effect but applied to non-brain cells, revealing that spaced learning may not be unique to neurons but could be a more general trait among many cell types. He suggests that if cells throughout the body share this property, then memory-like processes may be embedded in systems beyond the brain alone. This discovery could be transformative, as it indicates a more distributed memory system within the body and suggests that other cells might be playing a larger role in how the body remembers and reacts to stimuli over time.
The study offers potential implications for health, as understanding memory beyond the brain could influence how we approach various medical treatments. For instance, it might lead to new ways of enhancing learning and even treating memory-related conditions by focusing on memory mechanisms within different cell types. Kukushkin suggests that such findings might eventually lead us to treat parts of the body almost like extensions of the brain. For example, considering how the pancreas “remembers” past meal patterns to regulate blood glucose levels, or exploring whether cancer cells retain memory of previous chemotherapy patterns could become critical in designing future treatment protocols.
The research was conducted by Kukushkin in collaboration with Thomas Carew from NYU’s Center for Neural Science, along with team members Tasnim Tabassum and Robert Carney. This study not only broadens our understanding of memory beyond traditional brain cells but also hints at a more interconnected memory network throughout the body. The prospect of a broader memory network in various types of cells may reshape the future of neuroscience and medicine, suggesting that the potential for learning, adaptation, and memory might extend to a wide range of cellular processes and influence how we understand health and disease.
Source: New York University