

Mice Inherit Specific Memories, Because Epigenetics? - ColinWright
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/01/mice-inherit-specific-memories-because-epigenetics/

======
computer
The article mentions physical changes in the mice as a result of the smell
(more specific receptors and neurons) which are explained within the current
model by epigenetics: expression of "dormant genes" for those physical
changes.

So, if those physical changes explain the mouse behavior response, then this
has nothing to do with memories[1], and is not an unexpected outcome of the
study within the current model.

This article is much too sensationalist, in my opinion.

[1] for reasonable definitions of a memory, of course.

~~~
Sniffnoy
I think you're possibly being overly narrow with your notion of "memory". Such
a thing would not be a memory in the sense of something stored in the nervous
system, but it would still be a memory in the sense of stored information
based on past occurrences that influence future behavior. (And all memories
are physical changes, after all!)

And while that's certainly nowhere near as noteworthy as if memories from the
nervous system were somehow being directly passed down, it does not seem to be
a correct statement that this "is not an unexpected outcome of the study
within the current model". I mean, sure, the model doesn't _exclude_ this
outcome, but it certainly seems that nobody expected it to happen in a case
like this.

~~~
computer
Related-- Would you call instinct a memory?

Instinct does not have physical attributes that completely and directly
explain it, so the described behavior here is less of a memory than much of
(the rest of) instict is.

~~~
Sniffnoy
No, I wouldn't call instinct a memory, but I really think you're focusing on
the wrong thing here.

The relevant distinction here is not how "completely and directly" something
is "explained by physical attributes"; to be honest, I'm not even really sure
what that means. All behavior comes down to physical phenomena, after all;
whether or not we can currently make that reduction explicitly is more a
property of our current state of knowledge, than a property of the physical
system itself.

The relevant distinction here is the fact that this behavior, like a memory
proper, was _acquired during the mouse 's lifetime_, not inherited, and yet
passed on to offspring anyway. And yes, as you've noted, instances of that had
already been observed -- this wasn't something revolutionary -- but still this
wasn't a case where people expected to see that.

~~~
hcarvalhoalves
Maybe the term "imprint" could serve well.

I wouldn't be surprised if more instances of that experiment get discovered
and reproduced, after all this is describing a feedback loop leaving patterns
on the next iteration (parent -> genetics -> expression on descendant), and
feedback loops are to be expected in all natural systems.

------
DonGateley
What shocks me is how long it took for someone to think to run this simple and
rather obvious experiment.

------
carsongross
Amazing, if verified.

Truly, we know nothing.

