To know about how memories are formed, researchers have recently developed a new method for creating 3D models of memory-relevant brain structures.

The way neurons are interconnected in the brain is very difficult to understand. This holds particularly true for the cells of the hippocampus. It is one of the oldest brain regions and its form looks like a seahorse. The hippocampus allows to navigate space securely and to form personal memories.

Because of the anatomic knowledge of the networks inside the hippocampus and its link to the rest of the brain, scientists up to now have not been able to precisely find which information comes where and when.

Martin Pyka from the Mercator Research Group at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, explained that this approach is somewhat unique because it allows automatic calculation of the neural interconnection on the basis of their position inside the space and their projection directions.

Biologically, possible network structures can be created more easily than using the method available to date.

With the help of 3D models, researchers used this method to check the way neural signals spread throughout the network time-wise.

Researchers have found evidence that the hippocampus' form and size could explain why neurons in those networks fire in certain frequencies.

"In future, this method may help us understand how animals combine various information to form memories within the hippocampus in order to memories food sources or dangers and to remember them in certain situations", Pyka maintained.

Researchers published their results in the trade journal Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.