Making sense of the brain’s memory banks

Making sense of the brain’s memory banks  

04 June 2026 

Key points 

Short-term memories are thought to be formed deep within the brain in structures such as the hippocampus, but little is known about how and where memory-related information is kept in the brain or the process of drawing on this information.  

A good example is the sound of a car horn – most of us recognise it as a warning and know how to respond, even though not all horns sound the same and the circumstances in which we might hear a horn is different each time. 

New research led by Professor Lucy Palmer from The Florey’s Neural Network Group has uncovered new insights into how and where memory-related information is stored and how these memory banks are used.  

These findings improve our fundamental understanding of how the brain works, providing a springboard for other scientists to make further, disease-specific discoveries.  

“Using mice that we trained to respond to similar, but slightly altered sounds, we identified a long-range cortical circuit that links memory and sensory systems,” Professor Palmer said. 

“Our findings provide valuable insights into the cellular and network mechanisms that support learning and memory-guided sensory behaviour. 

“We know that short-term memories are formed in the brain during learning, but what is largely unknown is how these memories are embedded in cortical networks for the longer term, and we also don’t fully understand the neural basis that allows us to generalise what we have learnt. 

“In other words, we generalise the sound of a car horn to enable us to react appropriately, but we do not have to learn the association of caution every time we hear a car horn.” 

By training mice to respond appropriately to ‘Go’ and ‘No Go’ sounds, the researchers studied how an area of the brain important for memory (the perirhinal cortex in the medial temporal lobe) communicates with the hearing centre (the auditory cortex). 

They found that once the mice had learnt which sound meant ‘Go’ and which signalled ‘No Go’ they could still apply this rule even when the sounds were changed slightly. 

“When we analysed what was happening in their brains, we found that the perirhinal cortex, which is associated with memory, was sending strong signals to the auditory cortex during correct responses,” Professor Palmer said. 

“These significant findings provide a new framework for understanding how memory-related signals from medial temporal lobe regions can shape cortical circuits. 

“Understanding these processes can also help researchers better understand memory disorders, including dementia, and develop new treatments that target these areas of the brain.”