Making Memories: Drexel Researchers Explore the Anatomy of Recollection
What was your high school mascot? Where did you put your keys last night? Who was the first president of the United States?
Groups of neurons in your brain are currently sending electromagnetic rhythms through established pathways in order for you to recall the answers to each of these questions. Researchers in Drexel’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems are now getting a rare look inside the brain to discover the exact pattern of activity that produces a memory.
Dr. Joshua Jacobs, a professor in Drexel’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, is analyzing data accumulated from 60 epilepsy patients who have had electrodes implanted on their brains in order to determine the causes of their epileptic episodes.
"When performing seizure mapping, surgeons implant electrodes in many brain areas, while searching for seizure activity,” Jacobs said. “Thus, there many electrodes end up being in normal brain tissue, and they measure neuronal activity that reflects normal brain function – this is the function that we’re studying to learn about the nature of working memory."
