X-Message-Number: 3814 From: "Joseph J. Strout" <> Newsgroups: sci.cryonics Subject: research proposal: cryonics and STM Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 07:55:43 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <> There is evidence that short-term memory (STM) requires brain activity for its maintenance. Moreover, retrograde amnesia (i.e., the loss of memory for events shortly preceeding trauma to the brain) is often explained as the failure of consolidation of transient, recent memories into more permanent long-term memory storage. The two phenomena are sometimes seen as connected (though I don't necessarily buy this assertion myself). Anyway, the suggestion is that recent memories are encoded in brain activity, and the disruption of this activity results in retrograde amnesia (reference below). If this is true, then we expect cryonics to have similar effects. We could do some very interesting memory-consolidation experiments today using the washout techniques (e.g. of Mike Darwin). These experiments would make valuable contributions to cognitive neuroscience, as well as help prepare future cryonics patients for what they may experience. Moreover, if the studies were published in a reputable neuroscience journal, they could help modern cryonics techniques gain wider acceptance in the scientific mainstream. The trouble is, how does one measure episodic memory in animals? There are various techniques for doing this. Most often, I think, the Macaque monkey is used, but it's possible that cats or dogs could also do. The animal is trained to perform some task which requires discriminating between visual patterns or objects it has seen before, and those which it has not. The procedure (wash-out in this case) is then performed, and the animal is tested -- retrograde amnesia is indicated if the animal's performance is worse for recently seen objects than for more distant ones. Of course, a control group would be needed -- or maybe two (one which gets anesthetized by not washed out, and one that gets sham injections but never loses consciousness). The effect of "downtime" could be studied as well -- i.e., does 5 hours of flatline produce a bigger effect that 15 minutes? (I doubt it -- but it needs to be done & published all the same.) So, how about it? Good ideas? If so but time or funding are prohibitive, perhaps I can establish a collaboration between memory researchers here at UCSD and someone experienced in the washout techniques. Let me know what you think... ,------------------------------------------------------------------. | Joseph J. Strout Department of Neuroscience, UCSD | | http://sdcc3.ucsd.edu/~jstrout/ | | http://sunsite.unc.edu/jstrout/uploading/MUHomePage.html | `------------------------------------------------------------------' Reference: Miyashita, Y. Inferior temporal cortex: Where visual perception meets memory. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 16:245-263 (1993). Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=3814