WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Are We Moving Closer to 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hi,

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and this is a

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<v Speaker 1>classic brain Stuff episode. You know, for a show called

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, we don't spend a whole lot of time

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<v Speaker 1>talking about the brain. The show got its name because

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<v Speaker 1>the original host and writer, who you might have heard

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<v Speaker 1>on earlier episodes, was a guy named Marshall Brain, not

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<v Speaker 1>because of any dedication to brain related content. But in

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<v Speaker 1>this one we get into some strange research being done

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<v Speaker 1>with snails and memory and transferring memories from one animal

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<v Speaker 1>to another. Hey, brain stuff, Lauren vogel Bomb. Here, memories

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<v Speaker 1>are made by experience. For instance, you know that you

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<v Speaker 1>like donuts because you've had possibly hundreds of delicious donuts

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<v Speaker 1>in your lifetime. But what if you could have fond

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<v Speaker 1>memories of donuts, not because you've ever had one before,

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<v Speaker 1>but because somebody slipped you a transplanted donut memory. No,

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<v Speaker 1>Jim Care is not in this movie, and it's not

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<v Speaker 1>a movie. It's science. A team of researchers at U

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<v Speaker 1>c l A has been the first to successfully transplant

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<v Speaker 1>memory from one organism into another. The study published in

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<v Speaker 1>issue of in euro the online journal of the Society

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<v Speaker 1>for Neuroscience reports their success in using the genetic molecule

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<v Speaker 1>ribonucleic acid, or RNA, to transplant a memory from one

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<v Speaker 1>marine scale into another. The research team gave the memory

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<v Speaker 1>donor snails a series of mild electric shocks to their

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<v Speaker 1>tails over the course of two days. When threatened in

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<v Speaker 1>this way, the snails retracted the fleshy flaps on the

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<v Speaker 1>sides of their bodies called parapodia. Afterwards, when the researchers

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<v Speaker 1>so much as tapped these snails, they withdrew their parapodia

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<v Speaker 1>four around fifty seconds. And let's be frank here, these

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<v Speaker 1>c snails are not particularly smart. They don't even have

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<v Speaker 1>the type of nervous system that involves a brain. But

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<v Speaker 1>the trauma of getting repeatedly shocked on the butt led

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<v Speaker 1>them to become sense tized, which is a simple type

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<v Speaker 1>of memory. By contrast, a control group of snails that

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<v Speaker 1>never received the series of shocks only retracted their parapodia

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<v Speaker 1>for about a second after being tapped by the researchers.

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<v Speaker 1>And as one of my colleagues would say, here's where

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<v Speaker 1>it gets crazy. Next, the sciencests extracted rona from the

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<v Speaker 1>sensitized snails and injected it into seven snails that had

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<v Speaker 1>not received shocks. Afterward, when tapped, these snails pulled in

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<v Speaker 1>their parapodia for an average of forty seconds. David Glandsman,

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<v Speaker 1>senior author of the study and professor of Integrative biology,

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<v Speaker 1>Physiology and Neurobiology at U c l A, said in

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<v Speaker 1>a press release, it's as though we transferred the memory.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers went on to put RNA from shocked snails

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<v Speaker 1>into petree dishes containing bundles of neurons from snails that

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<v Speaker 1>had not received the shocks. They found that this resulted

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<v Speaker 1>in the neurons getting extremely excited when bathed in a

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<v Speaker 1>chemical messenger that suggested an electric shock. Neurons from the

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<v Speaker 1>unsensitized snails did not become near is excited. The research

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<v Speaker 1>team concluded that this ability from memory to be transferred

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<v Speaker 1>from one snail to another through r and A suggests

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<v Speaker 1>that we know less than we think about where memories

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<v Speaker 1>are stored. It's been assumed until recently that they are

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<v Speaker 1>kept in synapses, of which each neuron contains thousands A.

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<v Speaker 1>Glensman said, if memories were stored at synapsies, there's no

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<v Speaker 1>way Our experiment would have worked. Instead, He suggests they

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<v Speaker 1>might be kept in the nucleus of neurons. But this

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<v Speaker 1>isn't just about annoying snails. The study authors believe this

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<v Speaker 1>research could soon help patients with Alzheimer's disease or post

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<v Speaker 1>traumatic stress disorder. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>Eternal Sunshine of the Snail Mind on housetof Works dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>written by Jesselyn Shields. Brain Stuff is production of I

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>and it is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>from my heart Radio. Visit the I heart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite show.