For a long time, it was widely believed that learning and memory are usually only related to the brain. A new study in the United States shows that other tissue cells in the body have similar functions. This opens up new avenues for understanding the process of memory formation and opens up new possibilities for the treatment of memory-related diseases, among other things.

Researchers at New York University in the United States studied two types of non-brain cells in humans:

One comes from nerve tissue

One comes from kidney tissue

They exposed these non-brain cells to different patterns of chemical signals, just as brain cells are exposed to neurotransmitters when they learn new information, to mimic the learning process over time. In response, non-brain cells produce the same pattern as brain cells, turning on a "memory gene".

To more intuitively monitor the memory and learning processes of non-brain cells, the researchers engineered these cells to produce a light-emitting protein that shows when "memory genes" are on and off.

The researchers found that these non-brain cells were able to recognize repetitive patterns of chemical impulses that mimic a surge of neurotransmitters in the brain. When the pulses are sent at intervals, they activate the "memory genes" more strongly and for a longer duration than sending the same number of pulses at once. This phenomenon is similar to the learning and memory capabilities of neurons in the brain, suggesting that non-brain cells also have learning and memory functions.

According to the researchers

This indicates the ability to learn

It's not unique to brain cells

Actually, it could be

Basic properties of all cells

This discovery opens a new door to understanding how memory works and may lead to better ways to improve learning ability and treat memory-related disorders.

The findings were published in a new issue of the British journal Nature Communications.

Transferred from Xinhua News Agency