Science: Kidneys can learn too!

The boffins at NYU got some data indicating that kidneys and nerve tissue cells outside the brain are capable of learning and forming memories. This is not evidence that those cells or organs are conscious or experience qualia. (Qualia are the internal and subjective component of sense perceptions, arising from stimulation of the senses by various kinds of stimuli.) But it is an early indication that things we do repeatedly to our bodies can lead to learned biological responses by cells and tissues outside the brain. 

This research relied on applying chemical stimuli to cells in vitro in a protocol designed to show whether cells and tissues outside the brain can exhibit a massed-spaced effect. As we all know from grade school science, the massed-spaced effect is a hallmark feature of memory formation. Oh, we don't all know the the massed-spaced effect? Well OK, actually it's pretty simple: 

1. The massed effect comes from exposing cells, tissues or whole organisms to a stimulus once, e.g., exposure to food or other stimulant, followed by measuring responses to the same stimulus shortly after the first stimulus and later at a specific time thereafter, e.g., a week or month later. 

2. The spaced effect comes from exposing the same cells, tissues or whole organisms to the same stimulus several times over time, followed by measuring responses to the same stimulus immediately after the last stimulus and later as in group 1.

3. Then compare responses from massed exposure group 1 with responses from spaced exposure group 2. If the responses are the same, that suggests there has been no learning. If they differ, that suggests learning has occurred.

See, easy peasy. Science is fun.

The boffins write:

The research sought to better understand if non-brain cells help with memory by borrowing from a long-established neurological property—the massed-spaced effect—which shows that we tend to retain information better when studied in spaced intervals rather than in a single, intensive session—better known as cramming for a test.

In the Nature Communications research, the scientists replicated learning over time by studying two types of non-brain human cells in a laboratory (one from nerve tissue and one from kidney tissue) and exposing them to different patterns of chemical signals—just like brain cells are exposed to patterns of neurotransmitters when we learn new information. In response, the non-brain cells turned on a “memory gene”—the same gene that brain cells turn on when they detect a pattern in the information and restructure their connections in order to form memories.

“Learning and memory are generally associated with brains and brain cells alone***, but our study shows that other cells in the body can learn and form memories, too."—NYU’s Nikolay Kukushkin

To monitor the memory and learning process, the scientists engineered these non-brain cells to make a glowing protein, which indicated when the memory gene was on and when it was off.

The results showed that these cells could determine when the chemical pulses, which imitated bursts of neurotransmitter in the brain, were repeated rather than simply prolonged—just as neurons in our brain can register when we learn with breaks rather than cramming all the material in one sitting. Specifically, when the pulses were delivered in spaced-out intervals, they turned on the “memory gene” more strongly, and for a longer time, than when the same treatment was delivered all at once.

*** I have to quibble with the learned Dr. Kukushkin on this point. Learning and memory have been associated with plants and critters that have no brain. 

See, interesting. . . . . . Wait, the memory gene?? Is that for real? Nah, Kukushkin is off the rails here. Memory has to be multi-genic, i.e., encoded by more than one gene. Perplexity? 

Q: Is there such a things as a memory gene?

A: While there is no single "memory gene," memory formation and storage involve complex interactions between multiple genes and biological processes. ....

Q2: This article discusses the memory gene: https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2024/november/memories-are-not-only-in-the-brain--new-research-finds.html

A2: This recent research from New York University reveals fascinating new insights into the concept of memory and how it functions in the human body. The study, published in Nature Communications, challenges the traditional view that memory is exclusively associated with brain cells. ....

Sigh, smart as Perplexity can seem to be, it's often rather dumb. See Q3 & A3 in the search.

Anyway, if this research holds up and can be replicated, it strongly suggests that cells outside of brains can learn and remember. 

Once I read this, it seemed obvious to me that cells without brains could learn and remember due to the complexity of cells and their adaptability to stimuli and the evolutionary advantage some form of memory would confer on lifeforms that can remember. Heck, even "simple" cells like quorum sensing bacteria in our mouths may have some capacity to learn in some form or another. 

Life and critters, they're tricky little devils.

Here's the Nature paper.

By Germaine: Not a boffin

 

Boffins

(nice hair)