You may remember more than your conscious brain knows, according to a nifty new study that will soon be published in the journal Neuron. Researchers gave college students memory tests while closely monitoring both their eye movements and their brain activity, and found that certain patterns revealed that a student was retrieving the memory of the right answer–although his conscious brain often never got it.
In the experiment, researchers presented a long sequence of pictures of faces paired with an outdoor scene, and finally showed the subject one landscape photo along with three faces, asking him to pick out the face that had originally be paired with the landscape. Immediately, activity in the brain region called the hippocampus increased, followed 500 to 750 milliseconds later by eye movements directed toward one of the three faces. When the hippocampus was more active, the eyes lingered on the correct face. Less hippocampus activity occurred when the eyes dwelled on an incorrect face…. The results suggest that eye movements can reveal unconscious memories activated in the hippocampus [Science News]. This pattern stayed the same regardless of whether the subject ultimately settled on the right answer.
The hippocampus plays a crucial role in learning and memory, but one theory of neuroscience suggested that the region only works on conscious memories, like recalling an event or someone’s name. People like H.M., a world-famous neuroscience patient with a damaged hippocampus, can’t form new conscious memories but can learn new skills, like riding a bike—leading to the belief that an intact hippocampus is not needed for unconscious recall. But the new study suggests that the hippocampus actually is involved in memories of relationships that a person does not consciously recollect [Science News].
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September 11th, 2009 7:00 AM Tags: memory
by Eliza Strickland in Mind & Brain | 8 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >
8 Responses to “Your Eyes Reveal Memories That Your Conscious Brain Forgot”
1. 1. NewEnglandBob Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 9:15 am
This article has a misleading headline. The eyes remember nothing, but part of the (unconscious) brain did. It didn’t say the eyes have memory but the implication is there.
A better title:
“Eye Movement Reveals Unconscious Memory That Your Conscious Brain Forgot”
2. 2. demonstrator Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Could it be postulated that this process may have something to do with the Deja Vu phenomenon?
3. 3. Robbo Says:
September 12th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I’m intrigued how this could relate to “The Art Of Memory” and the use of mnemonic imagery to create an imaginary room as a tool to recall lengthy memorized passages of epic poetry - recalling the imagined walk through the room in order to trigger the subsequently more detailed recall of the poem. Could this be part of the same memory process? Using imagined visual recall to trigger the hippocampus? Curious to see if there’s any connection.
4. 4. Ryan Says:
September 12th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I agree with NewEnglandBob. Initially, I thought that the eye was somehow containing memories and thought that was pretty cool.
5. 5. John H. Says:
September 12th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
This gives some small credence to the theory/practice of ‘Neuro-Linguistic Programming’ where the direction of (sub-consciously directed) brief glances (up, down, left, or right) gives some clue as to psychological state induced by a given possibly emotionally-laden verbal query or other such stimulus.
6. 6. fsync Says:
September 12th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
“nifty” ?
7. 7. Frank Says:
September 12th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Eye knew it all along!
Robbo, you are a smarty. Psycho sybernetics(sp?) does the same for atheletes, cops and soldiers. visually running thru the motions reinforces the steps you eventually take. It probably has evolutionary origins and benefits.
Didn’t Lechter have one of those rooms in Silence of the Lambs?
8. 8. Travis Says:
September 12th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I guess the old saying “eyes are the doorway to the soul” takes on a bit of new light here…