Study reveals past experiences affect recognition, memory

Washington D.C.: Researchers claim that their recent research on the brain and memory can help in developing therapies for people suffering from schizophrenia and Alzheimer.

Researchers from the University of Guelph said that their work sheds new light on the internal workings of the brain, specifically regions involved in recognising and remembering objects.

Lead researcher Boyer Winters said that their study suggests that past experience with an object alters the brain circuitry responsible for object recognition. It has significant implications for a person's understanding of multisensory information processing.

He added that specialised areas of the brain mediate information for sight and touch.

Some researchers say those regions talk to each other, enabling better recognition of an object.

Others believe that the brain integrates information from the senses and stores it in a separate place entirely, and then taps into that area to aid object recognition.

Winters said that knowing what an object looks like enables them to assimilate information in a way that doesn't happen when there is no pre-exposure.

Their study suggests that there is an assigned region of the brain for memory based on previous experience with objects.

The study has been published in the Journal of Neuroscience.