Like Brain, Kidney Too Has Memory: Can It Pave Way For Treatments? Health Matters
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With this fresh approach, it is possible that in the near future, medicine could evolve to feel more like self-programming
The new discovery is that cells outside the brain also share a similar property and can remember things that they learn every day.
We always believed that memory is a function of the brain. But a new study has shown that all cells, including kidney cells, can count, recognise patterns, and store memories — just like brain cells.
The human body is endlessly intriguing, with new discoveries constantly reshaping our understanding. This study – published in the popular medical journal Nature Communications on November 7 – shows that kidney cells can store memory and exhibit intelligence just as neurons do.
It represents a major breakthrough in our understanding of human memory. Until now, we have believed that memory is solely a function of the brain. Memory exists throughout our body and this ‘body memory’ could play a role in the health and treatment of diseases.
We knew that the more frequently we review something, the stronger the memory becomes. For example, Dr Rajeev Jayadevan told News18 while simplifying the latest study: “A student who reviews a topic in four separate 10-minute sessions, spaced out over time, is more likely to remember it than one who studies the same material all at once for 40 minutes. This phenomenon is known as the mass-spaced effect.”
Jayadevan is the chairman of the research cell of Kerala State Indian Medical Association (IMA).
In other words, cramming before an exam is less effective at forming long-term memory, than studying systematically during regular classes and revising it periodically. Although short-term retention occurs, we easily forget what we learned by cramming.
In this study, the scientists set out to prove two things. First, they showed that cells outside the brain are capable of forming memory by receiving external signals, similar to studying. Secondly, they show that external “training” signals were more effective in inducing memory in these cells when they were given spaced apart, rather than when given all at once.
For the experiment, they wanted to use cells from outside the brain. So they experimented on cells derived from the kidney. They measured the activity of a memory gene which produced a special protein that was seen as a marker of memory activation.
They found that repeated, spaced-out external signalling (training) was more effective at inducing memory than a single prolonged training session.
WHAT NEXT?
Scientists are discussing how they can apply these findings to tackle unsolved health challenges. For instance: Can we use cellular memory to create customised treatments or teach cancer cells to respond to certain medicines?
This research opens an arena for further research into multiple areas.
“I think our research could serve as a starting point for many new research directions,” N. V. Kukushkin, a neuroscientist and lead author of the study told News18.
Kukushkin, professor of Liberal Studies at New York University, explained: “We take meals at regular intervals, exercise at specific times (lifting dumbbells a particular number of times at a particular speed) or take pills according to defined regimens. In most cases, there is no theory behind what timing works best.”
He pointed out a very significant pattern that we never knew existed before. Our research says, he said, most broadly, that time patterns matter — for any cell, for any part of the body. “For example, conventional cancer chemotherapy usually aims to maintain the levels of the anti-cancer drug in the patient’s blood at levels that are as stable as possible, but it might turn out that a particular pattern of drug “pulses” would be more effective at killing the tumour cells.”
“Our study shows that we need to think more broadly of memory as an imprint that the environment leaves on our brains and bodies — whether that means reading a book, eating lunch, or taking medicine.”
Other authors of the study include RE Carney, T Tabassum and TJ Carew from the Center for Neural Science, New York University.
INDIAN EXPERTS CALL THE STUDY IMPORTANT
This discovery paves the way for a further understanding of how memory functions and could lead to improved methods for enhancing learning and memory issues. In the future, we may need to treat our body more like the brain – by making our cells learn specific instructions.
“People have experimented with various techniques that could enhance memory and make it longer lasting. It is well known that training imparted via multiple shorter sessions (spaced training) produces stronger memory than the training (of equal duration) imparted in a single long session (massed training),” said neurologist Dr Sudhir Kumar from Hyderabad-based Apollo Hospitals.
“The current study nicely builds on this concept and confirms these observations,” he said, adding that the study also noted that both neural and extra-neural mechanisms are involved in learning and memory, which is an interesting observation.
He believes that the effects of training sessions on memory could vary between different species and need to be determined in future studies.
The new discovery is that cells outside the brain also share a similar property and can remember things that they learn every day. “These learning signals come from the environment and are important for the body,” Jayadevan said.
Biologically, Jayadevan explained, this is feasible because all cells in the human body are derived from a single cell and have the same DNA, even though they get reprogrammed in several directions as the embryo grows.
This study reveals that there is still so much we have yet to understand about our bodies. With this fresh approach to science, it is possible that in the near future, medicine could evolve to feel more like self-programming than traditional treatment.
