Can dreams help inscribe them in the brain?
Individuals with a certain type of brain damage live a kind of shadow life. They can converse, get around perfectly well, and even learn many types of skills that may be new for them: how to ride a bike, for example. But these individuals can’t remember a single fact from day to day, hour to hour, and even minute to minute. In effect–and even though some retain memories dating back before the damage occurred–they’re imprisoned in the present. These individuals have lost the use of a small but critical paired structure buried deep in the brain. Called the hippocampus because it’s vaguely shaped like a seahorse, the structure is critical in forming memories, says MIT’s Matthew Wilson. “Patients with serious hippocampal damage can learn and remember new physical skills,” he notes, “but they can’t form memories of the people, places and events in their lives.” Wilson, an assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences, has worked hard to puzzle out how the hippocampus works as catalyst
