Memories Create ‘Fingerprints’ that Reveal How the Brain Is Organized
By Mark Michaud
Monday, November 23, 2020
While the broad architecture and organization of the human brain is universal, new research shows how the differences between how people reimagine common scenarios can be observed in brain activity and quantified. These unique neurological signatures could ultimately be used to understand, study, and even improve treatment of disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
“When people imagine similar types of events, each person does it differently because they have different experiences,” said Feng (Vankee) Lin, PhD, RN. “Our research demonstrates that we can decode the complex information in the human brain related to everyday life and identify neural ‘fingerprints’ that are unique to each individual’s remembered experience.” Lin is an associate professor in the University of Rochester Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience and School of Nursing and co-author of the study which appears in the journal Nature Communications.
