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BY JERUSALEM POST STAFF

PHOTOS: INGIMAGE

new has found

study way to
strengthen memory our

in our
sleep
study by Tel Aviv University
new (TAU) and the Weizmann Institute(lax’l has found
113a)
method of strengthening
new the memory and the processes in the brain duringsleep.
The method evokes memories usingsmells. The studyalso gave information on how sleep
helpsmemory, which can be used to helppeoplewho have memory issues because of brain
trauma, or helppeoplewho have post-traumaticstress disorder (rpaauno-BOIS
pm nsnsn).

The studywas led by Ella Bar, PhD student at TAU

(OYlBpvr) and the Weizmann Institute.
She worked with Professor Yuval Nir of the Sackler Faculty Medicine (nubipon "ibpo
of
and SagolSchool
nxitnb) of Neuroscience (man ’snub buo tdo m3), as well as Professor
Yadin Dudai, Noam Sobel and Rony Paz, from Weizmann’s neurobiology center.

“We know that memory consolidation process takes placein the brain duringsleep,”
Bar said.

“For long-term memory, information moves from the hippocampus part of the brain
that works as buffer for new memories the neocortex.
the information
to But how
moves is stillunknown.
By consolidation
triggering
processes only one side of the in
brain duringsleep,
we were able to isolate the specific
activity the brain does in the
that
long term memory process,” Prof. Nir added.

Bar, who is the leader of the

study,spoke about the study’simportance,saying,“We
hope that in the future this method
can be used clinically.Most peoplewho are post-
traumatic show higheractivity in the rightpart of the brain when thinkingor talking
about their trauma. The right part of the brain is connected to emotional information. ...

The technique we use could potentially work on the memory duringsleepand lower the
emotional stress that the memory brings.”

The basis of the studywas that we know that memories associated with specific placeson
the leftside of body are stored in the rightside of our brain;and it also goes the other
our

way around. studythat checked this information gave people rose and asked them to
smell it;then those same peoplewere asked to remember the location of words on either
the left or rightside of computer screen. The peoplegave the location of the words
and then were asked to go to sleep. While asleep, some of those peoplewere exposedto
the same rose smell. It was found that the brains of the peoplewho smelled the rose had
better memory of where the words were located on the screen than the peoplewho were
not exposedto the rose smell in their sleep.