2023届高三英语二轮复习每日阅读打卡 DAY 25 （选自NewScientist）

每日阅读打卡 DAY 25 Science专题（选自NewScientist） The thalamus is a structure in the center of the brain that relays information from the senses. Recent research has found that it may also be responsible for sorting memories before they are stored long term. Previously, the thalamus had been largely overlooked in memory processing research. Neuroscientists have mostly focused on the hippocampus - the region identified as critical for forming new memories - and the cortex, where long-term memories are stored. A study conducted by Priya Rajasethupathy and her colleagues at the Rockefeller University in New York studied the brain activity of dozens of mice navigating a virtual maze. When the mice's thalamus was stimulated while learning the maze, they were able to recall the routes they learned weeks later, by which point they would ordinarily have forgotten. To watch memories being formed in real-time, the researchers used a new imaging technology that allowed them to see the electrical activity of individual neurons in the hippocampus, thalamus, and cortex simultaneously. They combined brain imaging with a virtual reality screen, a Styrofoam ball, and a sugar-water reward system. By running atop the rotating Styrofoam ball, the mice could navigate the virtual maze to access three different real-world outcomes. At the end of the maze training, the mice had more activity in their thalamus, suggesting to the researchers that the region may be playing an important role in memory consolidation. After three weeks, the researchers tested the rodents' memory while either stimulating or curbing the function of the thalamus using a technique called optogenetics. Mice that received a thalamus boost were able to recall memories weeks later that would have otherwise been forgotten, like the path to a meager few drops of sugar water. Mice that had their thalamus suppressed could learn and recall routes in the short term but could not form long-term memories. Because mice are used as mode