Mouse hippocampus revealed with the Brainbow techniqueTamily Weissman
Eyewitness testimony has long been an important part of most judicial systems around the world. However, over the last three decades, psychologists have consistently proven how tenuous the memories truly are, and how easily they can be altered or even manufactured through the power of suggestion. Today (July 25), research published in Science provides the first clues regarding the mechanism for creating such faux memories in the brain, demonstrating that the manipulation of a specific subset of neurons in the mouse hippocampus can cause the animals to falsely remember a fear of a foot schock.
“[This] is a very striking investigation that provides clues about the neurobiological mechanisms that may underlie how we acquire false memories,” said Howard Eichenbaum, a neuroscientist at Boston University, who ...
