Science fiction has long used the imagined futuristic ability to create and erase memory to build a plot. Total Recall, Paycheck, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are just a few movies using such a plot device. But new research at Brandeis University indicates that memory erasure may not be so far-fetched or impossible.

By manipulating a protein kinase called CaMKII, researchers say that memory storage can be induced and erased from the hippocampus. CaMKII has been termed a “memory molecule”. When CaMKII is chemically attacked, memory is erased.

Researchers cite the possible use of this discovery in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy but one has to wonder about the ethical uses of this ability to weaken synapses by attacking memory molecules, the ability to prevent or erase memory storage.

Read more: New Research Sheds Light On Memory By Erasing It

As time passes, details in memories degrade. The memory of lunch with a friend is still with you a week later, but do you recall the color of the shirt he wore?

Ask a witness to a crime what they saw immediately following the event and they will recall more detail than they would if you waited several days or a week to ask them to recount their memories. It seems a simple concept, but often witnesses are only interviewed briefly at the crime scene. The full interview may not take place for several days. By this time, many of the important details about people and events have been forgotten. The more time that elapses between the event and being asked to fully recall the details, the less accurate the report is likely to be.

With funding from the British Academy and working with police forces in England and Scotland, Dr Lorraine Hope from the University of Portsmouth and collaborators Dr Fiona Gabbert (University of Abertay) and Professor Ronald Fisher (Florida International University) have developed the Self Administered Interview. Tests conducted using simulated crime scenes, showed that recall concerning the events was 42-44% more accurate when witnesses used the SAI following the event. A second test showed that even a week later, accuracy for details and people involved was 30% higher for those who used the SAI than for witnesses who were simply asked to “tell us all that you can remember”.

Memory decay happens very quickly in the first few days following an event and eventually slows and levels off. This means that over time, witnesses memories of events will include the basic framework of the event but be devoid of details they might have recalled if they had the opportunity to record their memories before the information is forgotten. Going over the details sooner helps strengthen and protect the memory, guarding it from the natural process of forgetting.

Scientists develop new tool to ‘freeze’ crime scene memories

A five-year study of the brains of 136 subjects showed that changes in the brain precede symptoms and diagnosis of cognitive impairment and Alzheimers.

The participants, all over the age of 65, ranked as cognitively normal on tests given at the start of the study. Brain scans of the participants were also taken at the start of the study. The participants were followed with neurological and cognitive testing over the study period.

At the end of the study, 23 participants had developed MCI (mild cognitive impairment) and, of those, 9 went on to be diagnosed with Alzheimers.

Researchers discovered that changes in the brain had taken place as much as four years before the subjects had started to show cognitive impairment. The brain scans showed a decrease in grey matter in those participants who went on to develop memory problems while they still tested normal for cognitive function.

Researchers hope that the results of the study will help in identifying people at risk of developing MCI which leads to Alzheimers.

The study is published in the April 17, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

People who exercise are known to do better on memory tests. Now researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered why those who exercise have better memory retention.

Researchers used an MRI technique developed at Columbia to study the brains of people who had just exercised. They were able to identify the growth of new neurons in the dentate gyrus, a region of the brain within the hippocampus.

Exercise targets the dentate gyrus, which underlies normal age-related memory decline that begins around age 30 for most adults. The dentate gyrus is the one area of the brain where new neurons are generated, and exercise improves this process.

“Our next step is to identify the exercise regimen that is most beneficial to improve cognition and reduce normal memory loss, so that physicians may be able to prescribe specific types of exercise to improve memory,” said Scott A. Small, M.D., associate professor of neurology at Columbia University Medical Center and the study’s lead author.

Columbia Study - New Reason to Hit The Gym: Fighting Memory Loss