Brain mapping reveals neurological basis of decision-making in
rats Scientists at UC San Francisco have discovered how memory
recall is linked to decision-making in rats, showing that
measurable activity in one part of the brain occurs when rats in
a maze are playing out memories that help them decide which way
to turn. The more they play out these memories, the more likely
they are to find their way correctly to the end of the maze. In
their study, reported this week in the journal Neuron, the UCSF
researchers implanted electrodes directly on a region of the rat
brain known as the hippocampus, which is already known to play a
key role in the formation and recall of memory. This same region
is active when animals are learning, and it is damaged in people
who have Alzheimer's and post-traumatic stress disorder. The
study showed that when the rats paused before an upcoming
choice, sometimes the hippocampus was more active and sometimes
it was less active. When it was more active it did a better job
of recalling