CSN Latest News

If we lose our memories, are we still ourselves? Is identity merely a collection of electrical impulses? What separates us from animals, or from computers?

From Plato to Westworld, these questions have fascinated and befuddled philosophers, artists, and scientists for centuries. In The Forgetting Machine, neuroscientist Rodrigo Quian Quiroga explains how the mechanics of memory illuminates these discussions, with implications for everything from understanding Alzheimer's disease to the technology of Artificial Intelligence.

You'll also learn about the research behind what Quian Quiroga coined "Jennifer Aniston Neurons," cells in the human brain that are responsible for representing specific concepts, such as recognizing a certain celebrity's face. The discovery of these neurons opens new windows into the workings of human memory.

In this accessible, fascinating look at the science of remembering, discover how we turn perceptions into memories, how language shapes our experiences, and the crucial role forgetting plays in human recollection. You'll see how electricity, chemistry, and abstraction combine to form something more than the human brain, the human mind. And you'll gain surprising insight into what our brains can tell us about who we are.

The Forgetting Machine takes us on a journey through science and science fiction, philosophy and identity, using what we know about how we remember (and forget) to explore the very roots of what makes us human

Our work was featured in Canal 22, a Mexican television programme.
Watch the full video below or follow this link.

A preview of a spectacular finding by Doris Tsao's lab about how we recognise faces.
http://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(17)30539-1.pdf

You can find some press releases of the news following the links below:
Science
The Guardian
New York Times
ScienceNews
SciAm

An article on the process leading to memory formation has been published in the the Mexican online magazine "La Expression".
It features the research carried out in the Centre and recently published in the scientific journal "Neuron".

The article can be found here.
Come se forman los recuerdos en el cerebro?

The Spanish magazine "ABC Gente" have published an article about the discovery and the function of Jthe ennifer Aniston neuron.

You can find it here.
La neurona de Jennifer Aniston

"Coseche 48", a comedy of fiction inspired by the discovery of the "Jennifer Aniston" neuron, is released in Argentina.
Can memories be manipulated? Is there a formula to remember? The questions will be unveiled in "Cosecha 48".
Romina Triunfo, together with Santiago Martín, are the producers of this work, directed by Nicolás Acosta, Gabriella Aly, who is inspired by the work of Argentinian scientist Rodrigo Quian Quiroga.

“The scientific question is central to the work, given that the starting point was Quian Quiroga's research. The main attraction is the possibility of seeing a comedy of science fiction in the theater, where drama and acting merge in a story that flows and summons the viewer" explains Romina.

http://leedor.com/2017/05/25/cosecha-48-el-olvido-no-muere-nicolas-acosta/

http://launion.com.ar/una-tesis-sobre-la-manipulacion-de-recuerdos-en-cosecha-48/

The article goes into detail about the Jennifer Aniston Neuron and its discovery, as well as the implications of these neurons on memory. To read the full article follow the link below:

http://www.tiempodehoy.com/sociedad/la-neurona-jennifer-aniston

At the Creative Brain in Oxford (26th November 2016), Rodrigo spoke about the writing of Jorge Luis Borges, particularly his short stories 'Shakespeare’s Memory' and 'Funes the Memorious', which deal with memory. In his talk he combined concepts from neuroscience (visual perception and memory) with discussions of philosophical and literary ideas about the part played by memory in personal identity.

You can watch the full video below: 

Spanish science magazine "Muy Interesante" have published an article highlighting the Jennifer Aniston neuron and the research performed here at the Centre.

The full article is available here: http://www.muyinteresante.es/curiosidades/preguntas-respuestas/que-es-la-neurona-jennifer-aniston-191483951867

An innovative new study by researchers here at the CSN, in collaboration with the University of California Los Angeles, have had their research published in the Journal Nature Communications, shedding light on how neurons in memory-related areas provide a long-term coding of associations between concepts.

The team (first author Emanuela De Falco) also used internet search engines, such as Google and Bing, to explore a much larger database of associations between concepts and then investigated more comprehensively how neurons represent the intricate web of associations and memories. 

They found that whenever neurons fire to more than one concept, they tend to be related both according to the subjects' scores and the internet searches.

Professor Quiroga added: "Interestingly, the patients were not performing a memory task, they were just passively watching pictures. So, the coding of associations is not contingent to the performance of a task -- in which case, it could be argued that neurons temporarily encode such associations and then do something else -- but it rather represents a long-term memory storage."

You can read the paper in full here

For further press coverage please see below:

Nature Press release:
http://www.natureasia.com/en/research/highlight/11128

UoL Press Release:
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2016/november/what-can-google-tell-us-about-2018the-memory-web2019-in-the-brain

New Scientist:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2112755-how-our-brains-recall-celebrities-is-mirrored-by-search-engines/

Science Daily:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161115121524.htm

La Nacion (Argentina)
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1956545-desentranan-un-mecanismo-clave-del-telar-de-la-memoria

Il Fatto Quotidiano (Italy)
http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2016/11/16/cervello-come-nasce-un-ricordo-ce-lo-spiegano-google-e-bing/3197325/

La Vanguardia (Spain)
http://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20161115/411892934714/las-asociaciones-entre-conceptos-estan-marcadas-por-un-patron-neuronal.html

Below you can watch Rodrigo's lecturer from the International Institute of Physics Summer School on "Physics and Neuroscience" at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. The school ran from 11th-17th August in Brazil.

This detailed talk, entitled "Modelling and analysis of extracellular recordings",  lasts just over 1.5 hours and can be viewed in full below or via this link.

Watch Rodrigo's recent interview, covering how memory functions, by Canal 22 (Mexico). The two part interview can be viewed below or by following these links Part 1 and Part 2.

As part of TecTV's series on Consciousness, Rodrigo was interviewed by Eugenia López. Watch the full interview below or follow the link.

The “Jennifer Aniston neuron” is the foundation of compelling new memory research by Olivia Goldhill

The article looks back at the original discovery and outlines the more recent research produced by Rodrigo and the team here at the CSN.

Read the full article here: http://qz.com/740481/the-jennifer-aniston-neuron-is-the-foundation-of-compelling-new-memory-research/

Thursday 28th July 2016, 19:00-20:00

Centro Cultural de la Ciencia, Godoy Cruz 2270 1425 Buenos Aires Argentina

Neuroscience accumulates an extensive literature on different memories, but there are transcendental memories that can accompany you through life. A great example in Argentina is football! Neuroscientist, Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, and two renowned sports journalists, Ezequiel Fernandez Alejandro Fabri Moore, await you for a debate you won't forget.

For full details: https://etrigg.com/event/memoria-de-futbol/29700907/

In his most recent interview by Muy Interesante (Mexico), Rodrigo outlines how our memory works, and how the Centre's research is taking our understanding of this process forward. 

The full interview can be found here.

How "Funes The Memoirist" jumped from literature to science.

In the interview, Rodrigo discusses the link between literature and science, focusing in particular upon work by Borges.

Read the full article here: http://jornadaonline.com/Argentina/156714-Quian-Quiroga:-de-cómo-Funes-el-memorioso-saltó-de-la-literatura-a-la-ciencia 

This interview has also been published by the national Argentinian news agency Télam on their website here: http://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201606/151206-borges-aniversario-quian-quiroga-funes.html

Rodrigo talks Football and Memory with Radio Ciudad (Argentina).

https://soundcloud.com/user-896097652/rqq-interview-radio-ciudad

Titled “Recordamos poco porque nos interesa mucho más entender" ("We don't remember much because we are more interested in understanding"), the article features in the national Argentinian newspaper Clarin (written by Claudio Martyniuk).

In the article, Rodrigo answers questions on a range of topics including: the development and recall of memories in children, how memories relate to our personality and understanding, and the future of human/machine intelligence.

To read the full article follow the link below:

http://www.clarin.com/opinion/Recordamos-interesa-entender_0_1567643420.html

Dr Hernan Rey and Dr Matias Ison represented the University of Leicester at the Science Museum London for their recent medical-themed 'Lates Evening'.

Lost in Thought - Wednesday 27th April - Exploring dementia and neuroscience

Here are some photos from the event:

Click on the images to enlarge.