Birds Hold New Clues about Human Memory

这是一则科技珍闻。英国的科学家最近发现一种名叫scrub jays(【鸟】灌丛鸦)的鸟具有一直被认为是人类所独有的短暂记忆。对这种鸟的研究的价值 在于:…provides new tools to investigate how space, time and events areremembered in the human brain.这种研究可能为早老年痴呆病患者以及记忆缺失患者带来好消息。

Wish You Were Here： A Psychological Analysis Using Atkinson-Shiffrin Memory Mode

Graham Swift＇s last novel Wish You Were Here carries many sad memories that threaten Jack＇s present life and changes its direction. Vera＇s, the dog＇s and Tom＇s death, all have their far-reaching effects in Jack＇s life. Jack is a man who feels unable to assert himself. The novel is the slow, repetitive unfolding of Jack＇s life leading up to this point. It shows the instability of truth and the complexity of memory are tiresome, and may stand in the way of what is crucial. Here Swift applies a node that comfortably portrays memory on the move---a voice that accomplishes in catching the second thoughts and equivocations. The first-person narration tries to either suppress for the reason of clarity or indulges at the cost of clarity. The paper will shed light on the effect of the memories of one＇s life depending on the Atkinson-Shiffrin model. The Atkinson-Shiffrin model is a multi-store model that asserts that human memory has three separate components.

Behavioral interventions to eliminate fear responses

Fear memory underlies anxiety-related disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD). PTSD is a fear-based disorder,characterized by difficulties in extinguishing the learned fear response and maintaining extinction. Currently, the first-line treatment for PTSD is exposure therapy, which forms an extinction memory to compete with the original fear memory. However,the extinguished fear often returns under numerous circumstances, suggesting that novel methods are needed to eliminate fear memory or facilitate extinction memory. This review discusses research that targeted extinction and reconsolidation to manipulate fear memory. Recent studies indicate that sleep is an active state that can regulate memory processes. We also discuss the influence of sleep on fear memory. For each manipulation, we briefly summarize the neural mechanisms that have been identified in human studies. Finally, we highlight potential limitations and future directions in the field to better translate existing interventions to clinical settings.

Air-stable synaptic devices based on bismuth triiodide and carbon nanotubes

Artificial synaptic devices with the functions of emulating important biological synaptic behaviors are playing an increasingly important role in the development of neuromorphic computing systems.Single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWCNTs)with excellent electrical properties and high stability have been studied as active materials for synaptic devices.However,the performance of optical synaptic devices(OSDs)based on pure SWCNTs is limited by the weak light absorption property.Herein,bismuth triiodide(BiI_(3)),an environmentally stable and friendly optoelectronic material,is firstly combined with SWCNTs to fabricate OSDs with decent properties of perceiving and memorizing optical information.The OSDs can exhibit typical synaptic behaviors including excitatory postsynaptic current,paired-pulse facilitation,and short/long-term memory.Distinctively,the photoresponse of the OSD is independent of pulse light wavelength in the range of 365 to 650 nm,different from most of the previously reported OSDs,which usually have wavelength-dependent photo-response.Temperature-dependent photo-response behaviors of the devices are investigated.Importantly,the OSD without encapsulation holds good excitatory post-synaptic current(EPSC)behavior after being stored in the ambient environment for 170 days,indicating reliable environmental stability.Furthermore,an OSD array with nine synaptic devices is employed to mimic the human visual perception and memory functions.These results suggest the feasibility of BiI3/SWCNTs-based OSDs for the simulation of human visual memory.