all cells having memory properties that were previously thought to be brain related
thinking about memory as an abstract concept
what even is memory?
memory is thought of subjectively
memory is not really what we study
we study behaviors
ex: fear conditioning
we project ourselves onto whatever being’s behaviors
used to study sea slugs
study change in behavior
very simple and different from humans
only a couple of neurons
some behaviors explained by a single neuron
what does memory mean if those changes are all happening in one cell?
maybe it’s not about the brain/nervous system
maybe we can do something with one cell and have it change in the long term → that changes the behavior
is it really the same thing as what’s happening in the brain?
do normal cells REALLY remember in the same biological way that neurons do?
how to test that
artificiall reporter system - tells us how a cell forms a memory
memory genes — turn on when an animal learns
know this from neuroscience
took memory genes and found them in generic cells (source doesn’t matter)
one of the cells was takenn from a neuroblastoma
another cell was taken from a kidney
similar to HeLa cells
installed an artificial gene that produces a protein that glows under the control of the same promoter that controls the memory gene
promoters turn on genes
the glowing happens when the memory gene gets turned on
sea slugs - two neurons connecting to each other and the strength of connection
strength is disrupted by a shock → releases serotonin (dangerous for slugs) → inside the cells serotin turns on genes → turn on other genes → produce furhter changes in the cells
all cells have protein kinase a and “” c
synthetic chemicals that can turn on a and c
test different patterns over time - different chemical experiences
how will they turn on those genes and for how long?
fundamental property of memory
if you have the same amount of learning (given time spent learning something)
spaced amount over time → better memory
crammed → worse
can a generic cell have the spacing effect as well?
spacing → more protein for longer time
can last for days
what does this change?
introduction of an artificial “reporter”
need to look furhter at specific cells
ex: pancreas
spacing to optimize insulin/glucose production
cells can read responses in minutes and generate responses that last hours and days
eventually the relationship plateaus
we think that neurons are really fast but it really might be the rest of the body
all cell cultures grown in fetal embryonic calf serum
serum makes cells grow
serum is very very strong, non-physiological solution for an actual cell
for the experiment, withdraw the serum
normally you use 10-15%
found that even 0.1% of hte serum throws off the process
some studies on cancer cells
chemo kills cancer cells
the cells actually learn to respond to chemo
some forms of cellular learning can carry over through cell division
AI?
what current AI lacks is timing resolution
Ai in its current form is miomimetic, mimics the brain’s fast behavior
specifically mimicking the cerebral cortex
only in immediate time scales and only in that moment of seconds/milliseconds
doesn’t learn from repeated experience
cells are constantly monitoring patterns in time
the spacing over time doesn’t actually change how AI gives you a response
something that repeats itself is more important than something that happens once
evolutionary drive to “save” the important things
AI can’t parse through events to find what’s important and what isn’t
long term memory is not the function of a neural network, it’s the funciton of a singular cell
connection between your cells and memory to distringuish between patterns and cognitive ability in the brain
different cells have diff sharpness of the spacing effect
if you have sharper effect, are you smarter?
library of stem cells with genetic variations and test them
learn more about people and how they can learn best?
we know that patterns matter on short time scales
always been a cellular biologist
if everyone could know something about the research what would it be