{
  "id": 435522,
  "title": "Are parts of the memory trace found in the ‘astroengram?’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/10/are-parts-of-the-memory-trace-found-in-the-astroengram",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-10T04:00:43.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Transmitter",
    "slug": "the-transmitter",
    "url": "https://www.thetransmitter.org/memory/are-parts-of-the-memory-trace-found-in-the-astroengram/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Astrocytes, once thought to simply support neuronal function in the brain, may play a crucial role in memory formation and recall, according to recent research. Marta Navarrete, a principal investigator at the Cajal Neuroscience Center, introduced the concept of the \"astroengram\" in a 2023 Nature Reviews Neuroscience Perspective. She and her team found that a specific subset of astrocytes in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region that processes reward signals, becomes active during learning and is necessary for memory. When Navarrete's team reactivated these astrocytes using a tool called AstroLight, mice showed a stronger preference for a dispenser they had previously associated with sugar water. Conversely, silencing the same astrocytes led the mice to distribute their preference evenly between the dispensers. Similar findings were observed in fear conditioning studies, where manipulating astrocytes changed mice's behavior in ways linked to memory. However, the role of astrocytes in memory is still debated, with some researchers arguing that neurons remain the core of the engram.",
  "summary": "Neurons have long taken top billing in memory, but researchers are making the case for astrocytes.",
  "key_points": [
    "Astrocytes may play crucial role in memory formation, not just support neuronal function.",
    "Specific subset of astrocytes in nucleus accumbens active during learning and necessary for memory.",
    "Reactivating these astrocytes in mice increased preference for dispenser associated with reward."
  ],
  "editors_take": "This discovery suggests that astrocytes, specifically those in the nucleus accumbens, play a crucial role in memory formation and recall, potentially being part of the physical memory trace, or engram.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}