Theta waves reveal how brain connections and memory develops in growing children 22 April 2022 – Posted in: news – Tags: , , , , , ,

In the new issue of a prestigious journal Current Biology, Dr. Michal Kucewicz and our collaborator Dr. Jan Kaminski offer a commentary on the latest finding about the role of theta waves in the development of brain connections and our abilities to remember life events. The study was done in children and adolescents implanted with intracranial electrodes like the ones that we use for our research for treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy. The theta waves, which are approximately 3 to 8 cycles per second (imagine 5 waves going in one second), were found to be flowing more and more synchronously together in gradually more developed brains. In small children, who could not remember very many events, these waves were not as sync’ed as the ones in older adolescents, who could remember the events very well.
It turns out that as this sync’ed flowing between the prefrontal cortex (under your forehead) and the hippocampus (deep beneath your temples) was becoming more aligned, there were more connections developed between these two anatomical regions that are critical for our higher brain functions, including formation of new memories. Our new results that will soon be published also show that the theta waves in a particular hotspot of the prefrontal cortex can most strongly predict if we will remember a particular event or not. We are now trying to use all this knowledge to improve the way that the neural networks in the brain form, store and recall memories.
You read our commentary yourself, which was written in relatively simple words, or get in touch with us if you would like to know more! Stay tuned for the coming release of our discovery about the memory hotspot in the prefrontal cortex…