When we learn to associate certain cues and stimuli to a particular result or event, and an additional stimulus is introduced in conjunction with it, there is a phenomenon wherein our minds will not associate the event with the added stimulus. This is called "memory blocking" and it was thought that this was due to the problem of forming memories. But researchers from the University of Toronto have looked into the mind of the C. elegans worm in order to figure out how this phenomenon occurs. And they found out that it has nothing to do with forming memories and instead, it has something to do with memory recall.
Kamin blocking is thought to be a key way in which humans learn by focusing on novelty. It led to a well-established idea that to learn about an experience, it has to carry with it an element of surprise. Problems with blocking are pronounced in people with schizophrenia, which is thought to decrease selectivity in attention.
The process, however, has been difficult to study in granular detail in the mammalian brain due to its complexity and lack of molecular tools.
"Being able to fully describe the molecular changes that are going on in memory is enormously appealing, but human memory is too ephemeral and nebulous to pin it down," says Merritt. "But by studying it in worms, we are really making a lot of headway in figuring out exactly what is going on when memories are formed and retrieved in a molecule by molecule fashion."
(Image credit: Daniel Merritt)