Once again weird idea popped up : Emotions and new memories.

[William Gaatjes]

Maybe it is nonsense but i just had this weird idea :

How to mix emotions with memories.

It seems new neurons are formed in the hyppocampus which is part of the lymbic system. This system also plays an important part when it comes to emotions. Now let's say that since old neurons die of and new neurons take the place, that a neuron when taking it's position and used as part of a long term memory, is programmed in the lymbic system to become more active during a certain specific emotion ? Then when the specific emotion is experienced, this neuron will respond stronger then when other emotions are active. It's receptors would be tuned to a certain combination of neurotransmitters specific for that emotion. It is always assumed that neurotransmitters modulate emotion but for some reason it makes also sense that it works the other way around. Emotions modulate the release of combinations of neurotransmitters and types of neurotransmitters. If a memory has a more or less emotional charge, i would think that the neural connections recreating the memory that are polarized for a specific emotion would become more active and as such would be remembered more strongly if that specific emotional state was happening.

Mood is very important when recalling memories or even storing memories.

 

[firewolfsm]

Not bad, this shows a good understanding of the network. You shouldn't mix cell genesis into the theory though. Now write it out better, do some research, and find an fMRI machine to test it with.

I don't think memories carry emotions with them, but that they re-induce the emotion when their information is considered. One fact about memories is that their recollection generally recreates the pattern of firing that occurred when they were made (chicken and egg of course...) This is a great function of cortex, thought, and memory of thought, in the same device. So, as an event is remembered in cortex, its circuit may trace into the amygdala or hippocampus and induce emotion. Of course, if that emotion is already dominant, ie, active, it seems more likely that the emotion will be recalled, and also that its recollection will be stronger.

I'm curious Will, what kind of education do you have? And how far into neuroscience have you studied?

I'm an Undergrad at U of Michigan, started in physics, but I picked up and read two neuroscience texts (Intro to Neuroscience, and Cognitive Neuroscience: Biology of the Mind), then decided to leave physics at a minor and study the latter. The only relevant information I can draw on comes from the second book.

 

[William Gaatjes]

I am an electronics engineer in study and profession who also can do a little bit of programming and building of mechanical devices.
But i have been blessed(although there are occasions i see it as a curse) with an insatiable desire to understand and visualize how everything around me works while intuitively knowing that it is all interconnected. Being autodidact and always curious has helped me solve matters that i should not have been able to solve with my study alone. I just accepted it at one time and enjoy it as much as i can. But it is like an addiction i had to accept, when not being able to learn or mentally peal the world around me like an onion, i get restless.
Only sports give temporarily relief. Alas, there are worse things in life. I am a happy dude. ^_^

Let me put it this way, if you understand the programming language of the universe api, you do not have to know about different fields because you always know how to get there.

EDIT:

Forgot to mention that i have a book about the brain from an old television course before television was total crap. Further i just read on the internet. My reading is usually a stochastic process. Storing in category bookmarks for later use. I am the human equivalent of the google search machine . 🙂

My advice : always look for the simplest explanation on how nature it could do and then go 2 steps back towards complexity. Chaos exist only the minds of those who refuse to accept and visualize complexity. The more complex it gets, the better it feels when you are able to see it.

 

[C1]

http://www.horizonresearch.org/video.php?video_id=35

 

[William Gaatjes]

Yes IBM always does wonderful things. ^_^

firewolfsm
Forgot to mention that i am sure i am not the first who came up with this idea. But in any case to anyone curious or you,feel free to test it if you have the possibility. Because what ever result that will come from such a research test, i am sure that it will come in handy to help people who suffer from depressions. I myself do not suffer from this disease, but i do know people who have this awful condition).

Hypothetically speaking and thinking of my weird idea :
Imagine that happy memories spawn an emotional state that belongs to trauma's because of the wrong receptors are coded in. No matter what memory a person have, how joyful they may be... that person always feel sad and depressed. Could be another reason for depression. The other reason can be that if the brain is flooded with neurotransmitters that cause a person to remember negative memories (and thus negative thoughts) stronger, that person could get depressed. We know from research (see phage virus thread) that bacteria can modulate the serotonine levels in the brain and thus modulate the emotional state.

I watched this a few months ago.
Robert Sapolsky, from watching him explain, great guy :

Documentary ~60 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOAgplgTxfc

 

[William Gaatjes]

If you are interested, i found some more documentaries from Professor Robert Sapolsky.

You know what is strange, i find the way that he talks, so incredibly relaxing.
Yet i do not get sleepy or bored. To me it feels like he emotionally modulates his speech in such a way that you start to feel just as much as ease as he does. Yet my concentration is maximized.

Great explanation about the link between stress hormones and how it makes you more vulnerable to diseases. There is also a great explanation about how the stress system does wonders on a short term but is destructive on the long term. It is similar as having a car engine on nitrogen all the time while not build to sustain long periods of time to have that increase of power. And in the end blowing up the engine.

About neuron degeneration: ~80 minutes.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1877467554618436978#

Ted talk: ~37 minutes.
http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_sapolsky_the_uniqueness_of_humans.html

 

[William Gaatjes]

I finally have seen the neuron degeneration lecture in completion.

Amazingly interesting what glucocorticoids do. A body wide global system that controls all your cells.
I find it interesting these steriod hormones are together with adrenaline responsible for the formation of highly detailed memory. Dr Sapolsky would probably say "To get a good mugshot of the predator hunting you".

But it makes me think of people who can draw highly detailed pictures.
And also of autistic people who can after one experience can replay a piano piece flawlessly or have a very powerful memory. Some people have photographic memory. I wonder if there is more in common that just the normal expected variables.

I also find it amazing that as long as energy is supplied, the cells do not die but actually can repair themselves if the damage is not to great.

Interesting is the research to use viruses to help cells out in these situations...