New study in mice reveals unexpected place for learning, memory in the brain

Columbia neuroscientists have revealed that a simple brain region, known for processing basic sensory information, can also guide complex feats of mental activity. The new study involving mice demonstrated that cells in the somatosensory cortex, the brain area responsible for touch, also play a key role in reward learning, the sophisticated type of learning that allows the brain to associate an action with a pleasurable outcome. It is the basis for how we connect our work in the office to that paycheck, or that A to the studying we did in preparation for the test. The new research, published today in Cell Reports, provides evidence that learning and memory are not relegated to a few select regions, but instead may permeate the brain. "Our brains are masterful at making connections, or associations, between seemingly disparate pieces of information, but where those associations are stored has remained an unresolved question," said Randy Bruno, PhD, a principal investigator at Columbia's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and the paper's senior author.