Amrita Benoy grabbed the attention of the scientific world recently through her study that would help in the treatment of Alzheimer's, loss of memory, and behaviour disorders.
Her study dealt with how the human brain stores memories of an individual's interaction with the society and how it later mould the person's behaviour. The co-authored article, "Metaplastic Reinforcement of Long-Term Potentiation in Hippocampal Area CA2 by Cholinergic Receptor Activation," was published in "The Journal of Neurosciences," a peer-reviewed weekly by Washington, DC, US-based the Society of Neuroscience.
In conversation with Malayala Manorama, Amrita shares the salient points of her study:
Inconspicuous CA2
The hippocampus, a complex brain structure in humans and other vertebrates, could simply be put as a storehouse of memories. It stores factors such as 'what', 'when' and 'how,' as memories, and CA2 (hippocampal CA2), "an inconspicuously positioned area" is situated here. This sub-area is smaller compared to others, and Amrita's study dealt with how memories are formed in CA2.
Since CA2 is smaller than other sub-areas, researchers were under the impression that the neurons here did not play a major role in forming memories. Researchers, however, took CA2 seriously after realising that it records social memories.
Neurotransmitters, often referred to as body's chemical messengers, are signalling molecules secreted by a neuron, in response to the changing surroundings. The molecules -- neurotransmitters -- are transmitted between neurons, which formulate memories and behaviour. Acetylcholine is one such neurotransmitter. With the help of neuromodulator acetylcholine, the study went deep into the information analysis system in CA2.
The sensory inputs (what we see, hear, experience, etc.) from the external world stimulate the neurons, which transmit the signals to the nerve cells in the brain, where they are recorded as memories. When we experience the same again, the neurons are stimulated again, helping us to recall previous incidents.
Memories and behaviour
When we meet a person for the first time, memories about them are stored in the nerve cells in the brain. When we meet him/her again, the cells get active again. Memories were gathered from various external surroundings, and such memories are called social memories, which formulate our understanding of individuals and thereby our behaviour.
Social memory is different from those gathered through travels, studies, information gathered, and events that had occurred in life.
Kalamassery to Singapore via Kolkata
Amritha Benoy had her schooling at the Rajagiri Public School, Kalamassery. She took her Integrated MSc in Biotechnology from St Xavier's College in Kolkata. An internship in Dr R V Omkumar's lab in Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology in Thiruvananthapuram, spurred her to study neurons.
Amritha also received training from Bengaluru-based National Centre for Biological Sciences and Indian Institute of Sciences.
She researched under the guidance of Professor Dr Sajikumar Sreedharan of the Department of Physiology in the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine under the National University of Singapore, Singapore. Dr Sreedharan has been studying 'memories' for more than two decades.
Amritha is the daughter of advocate Benoy Thomas and SBI employee Mini Mathew, living in Kochi. Her husband, Noble Tomy Padiyara hails from Mundakayam in Kottayam. She has completed her post-graduation from the National University of Singapore.
