Can’t remember something? Try waiting until later in the day. Researchers have identified a gene in mice that seems to influence memory recall at different times of day and tracked how it causes mice to be more forgetful just before they normally wake up.
“We may have identified the first gene in mice specific to memory retrieval,” said Professor Satoshi Kida from the University of Tokyo Department of Applied Biological Chemistry.
Every time you forget something, it could be because you didn’t truly learn it — like the name of the person you were just introduced to a minute ago; or it could be because you are not able to recall the information from where it is stored in your brain — like the lyrics of your favorite song slipping your mind.
Many memory researchers study how new memories are made. The biology of forgetting is more complicated to study because of the difficulties of distinguishing between not knowing and not recalling.
Read more at University of Tokyo
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