Brain Avalanches May Help Retain Memories

In 2004, investigators positioned slices of rat brain tissue on a microelectrode array and discovered that the brain cells activated each other in cascades called neuronal avalanches. New computer models now suggest that these brain avalanches may be advantageous for information storage. If this is true, specific neurochemical treatments might someday improve the quality of life for individuals with memory problems.

"When most people think of an avalanche, they imagine something huge. But avalanches come in all sizes, and the smaller ones are most common. That's just what we found in the brain cells,” said biophysicist Dr. John Beggs, a professor in the Biocomplexity Institute at Indiana University Bloomington (USA).

A mountain avalanche may appear to be chaotic, but in reality it is ruled by specific parameters. These parameters also control apparently unrelated events such as earthquakes and forest fires, as well as neural activity in the brain, according to Dr. Beggs. All of these are instances of phenomena can be evaluated with the new technology of complexity, which involves all sorts of complicated systems ranging from national economies to living cells.

Biocomplexity is a cross-disciplinary field involving chemistry, physics, computer science, life sciences, and mathematics. To understand more of the possible advantages of brain avalanches, researchers simulated the spreading activity of brain cells in a computer model. When the activity was positioned to mimic the avalanches seen in brain tissue, a large number of stable activity patterns were seen. Stable activity patterns are believed to be vital for memory because they have been seen in the brains of rats and monkey after they perform memory tasks, according to Dr. Beggs.

"The fact that the most stable activity patterns appeared when the network of brain cells was also producing avalanches hints that the brain may actually use avalanches to store information,” Dr. Beggs noted. "If our computer simulations apply to networks of human brain cells, then it would be desirable to have your brain in a state where it naturally produces avalanches. In the laboratory, we can apply neurochemicals to defective networks of rat brain cells, gently easing them into a state where avalanches occur. These chemicals suggest treatments that might someday improve information storage in people with memory problems.”





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