Once more, another article claiming we have solved the problem of where memory is stored. (1) Atheists/ materialists are so eager to tag this problem “solved” that they have no issues in simply lying openly.
But true science is not about who claims to have solved something.
True science is about ACTUALLY and ACTIVELY seeking the truth, while being humble in the process…
Multiple experiments have shown that memory is not even stored in the brain…
Being hasty does not provide answers. It DOES provide though with a good indication of what your intentions are…
PS. See John Lorber research on patients with loss in the celebral brain cortex to see why one experiment cannot tell the truth (NDE and other consciousness without brain references). Check out for “Hasty Science” as well…
Scientists have identified a key molecule responsible for triggering the chemical processes in our brain linked to our formation of memories. The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Neural Circuits, reveal a new target for therapeutic interventions to reverse the devastating effects of memory loss. The BBSRC-funded research, led by scientists at the University of Bristol, aimed to better understand the mechanisms that enable us to form memories by studying the molecular changes in the hippocampus — the part of the brain involved in learning. [1]
This is a great example of how scientists write and think.
They are very carefull into their analysis and conclusions, leaving room for misjudgement if you are not well informed or prepared to that kind of wordings. Words like “linked to”, “involved into” are used simply because we have NOT yet understood the mechanism of memory and WHERE it is stored.
Such vague terminology is the only way scientists have to speak for issues they are still investigating. Ordinary people read such announcements and draw the conclusion that we “know” how memory (see here and here) is stored. Scientists let people believe that since it grants them more cudos and money.
It’s a win-win situation, except for the fact that I have to explain to every philosophy forum I write the obvious: that we do not even know WHERE memory is stored (let alone HOW)…
Many people believe in the materialistic explanation of consciousness, which demands that all functions of our mind take place into our brain. And even more people believe that the very basic problem of memory is one of the first that have been “solved”.
Right? Wrong.
Scientists do not know where exactly is memory located. To be exact, the more they look into the problem the more the tend to the conclusion that memory is not located somewhere in specific, but it is more something like “diffused” all over the brain. I have already mentioned in a previous article (Mind, Morphogenetic fields, Quantum physics…) about experiments conducted during which the scientists removed whole areas of the brain where memory seemed to be created, only to realize that the guinea pigs used still continued to remember what they were taught!
The chain of refutations of the abovementioned belief grew larger this week.
The up to now accepted theory that PKM-ζ plays a major role in the formation of long-term memory in the human brain, was found to be simply wrong.
Long-term potentiation (LTP), a well-characterized form of synaptic plasticity, has long been postulated as a cellular correlate of learning and memory. Although LTP can persist for long periods of time, the mechanisms underlying LTP maintenance, in the midst of ongoing protein turnover and synaptic activity, remain elusive.
Sustained activation of the brain-specific protein kinase C (PKC) isoform protein kinase M-ζ (PKM-ζ) has been reported to be necessary for both LTP maintenance and long-term memory. Inhibiting PKM-ζ activity using a synthetic zeta inhibitory peptide (ZIP) based on the PKC-ζ pseudosubstrate sequence reverses established LTP in vitro and in vivo. More notably, infusion of ZIP eliminates memories for a growing list of experience-dependent behaviours, including active place avoidance4, conditioned taste aversion, fear conditioning and spatial learning.
However, most of the evidence supporting a role for PKM-ζ in LTP and memory relies heavily on pharmacological inhibition of PKM-ζ by ZIP and conclusions that a “mechanism for memory” has been found were rather hasty. To further investigate the involvement of PKM-ζ in the maintenance of LTP and memory, scientists generated transgenic mice lacking PKC-ζ and PKM-ζ. They were suprised to found that both conventional and conditional PKC-ζ/PKM-ζ knockout mice showed NORMAL synaptic transmission and LTP at Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses, and have no deficits in several hippocampal-dependent learning and memory tasks.(source: Nature 1, Nature 2)
May this be a constant reminder that finding a correlation between two elements does not mean nothing more that… there is a correlation between these two things. Jumping to conclusions like “A produced B” should be made with caution.
Memory which is not located anywhere specific and which remains functional even when we deactivate elements which seem actively related to it, can only mean one thing: the brain is just a receiver or a filter with access (better: limited access) to an immaterial field of information…
