The brain has these special electrical rhythms called oscillations, and scientists have been curious about what makes them happen.
Researchers at the University of Arizona found something interesting: just remembering things can actually trigger these brain rhythms more than experiencing the real event.
Now, let's talk more about this research.
More about the research
Scientists looked at something called theta oscillations, which happen in the brain's hippocampus when we explore, navigate, or sleep.
The hippocampus is the part of the brain that helps us remember things.
Before this study, scientists thought that what's happening around us (our environment) played a bigger role in causing these brain rhythms.
But the team at the University of Arizona discovered that our memories inside our brains are the main reason for these rhythms.
They did an experiment using virtual reality with 13 patients who were preparing for epilepsy surgery.
The patients imagined moving around a virtual city on a computer, and when they remembered the route they took, their brain rhythms got stronger.
It might be helpful
This discovery could be important for helping people with brain problems like memory loss due to things like seizures or stroke.
By using memory, we might be able to make the brain's rhythms stronger and help people remember better.
In the future, they want to do more experiments where people move around freely to see how that affects their brain rhythms.
Understanding this can help us design better ways to improve memory and treat brain-related issues.
