It’s widely accepted that our brains, particularly the brain cells, are responsible for storing memories. However, a group of researchers has found that cells from various parts of the body also play a role in memory, paving the way for new insights into how memory functions and the opportunity to improve learning or address memory-related issues.
“Typically, we link learning and memory solely to the brain, but our research reveals that other body cells can learn and create memories as well,” states Nikolay V. Kukushkin from New York University, the lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Communications.
The study aimed to investigate whether non-brain cells contribute to memory processes by leveraging a well-known neurological principle—the massed-spaced effect. This principle indicates that we tend to remember information better when learning occurs over spaced intervals rather than through a concentrated, single session, which we often refer to as cramming for exams.
In the research published in Nature Communications, the scientists recreated the learning process by examining two types of non-brain human cells (one from nerve tissue and another from kidney tissue) in a lab setting. They exposed these cells to different chemical signals to mimic how brain cells encounter neurotransmitter patterns when we acquire new knowledge. In response, the non-brain cells activated a “memory gene,” similar to how brain cells respond when they identify patterns in information and alter their connections to form memories.
To observe the learning and memory process, researchers modified these non-brain cells to produce a glowing protein, indicating whether the memory gene was active or inactive.
The findings demonstrated that these cells could recognize when the chemical signals, simulated to represent bursts of neurotransmitters in the brain, were repeated rather than prolonged. This ability mirrors how neurons in our brain process learning with breaks instead of cramming. Specifically, when the signals were given in spaced intervals, the cells activated the memory gene more intensely and for an extended period compared to when the treatment was delivered all at once.
“These results exemplify the massed-space effect in action,” says Kukushkin, a clinical associate professor of life science at NYU Liberal Studies and a research fellow at NYU’s Center for Neural Science. “This suggests that the capacity to learn through spaced repetition is not exclusive to brain cells but may be an inherent trait of all cells.”
The researchers further emphasize that these discoveries not only present new avenues for studying memory but also offer potential health benefits.
“This breakthrough unlocks new opportunities to understand memory mechanisms and may improve strategies for enhancing learning and addressing memory disorders,” Kukushkin notes. “Moreover, it suggests a need for us to consider our body in a manner similar to the brain—for instance, understanding how our pancreas remembers our meal patterns to regulate blood glucose levels or how cancer cells recall chemotherapy patterns.”
The research was co-supervised by Kukushkin and Thomas Carew, a professor at NYU’s Center for Neural Science. Additional contributors to the study included Tasnim Tabassum, an NYU researcher, and Robert Carney, then an undergraduate researcher at NYU.
This investigation was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R01-MH120300-01A1).
