Research by scientists from Germany and the United States indicates that the faster a person moves, the more intense are their brain rhythms related to learning and memory.
Specifically, the researchers, led by Professor Mayank Mehta, from the University of California in Los Angeles (United States), discovered that an electrical signal called "gamma rhythm" generated in the hippocampus plays a fundamental role in learning and memory during periods of study and concentration. The most curious thing is that when we move at a higher speed, the gamma rhythm becomes more intense. " It is known that the gamma rhythm is controlled by attention and learning, but it seems also by the speed at which one runs, " explained Professor Mehta. "This research highlights an interesting connection between the world of learning and the world of travel speed."
According to Professor Mehta, the hippocampus has the ability to record facts and events quickly and temporarily . And according to Zhiping Chen, a co-author of the Public Library of Science (PLoS) journal, the hippocampus is also decisive for orientation. Hippocampal cells encode information about position, but knowing where you are is not enough to get your bearings: you also need to know the speed of movement. "We concluded that there must be a separate brain signal that encodes this speed information," says Chen.
