{"681760":{"#nid":"681760","#data":{"type":"news","title":"When Less is More: How Inhibition Shapes Learning","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENuri Jeong remembers the feeling of surprise she felt during a trip back to South Korea, while visiting her grandmother, who\u2019d been grappling with Alzheimer\u2019s disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI hadn\u2019t seen her in six years, but she recognized me,\u201d said Jeong, a former graduate researcher in the lab of Annabelle Singer in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI didn\u2019t expect that. Even though my grandmother struggled to remember other family members that she saw all the time, she somehow remembered me,\u201d Jeong added. \u201cIt made me wonder how the brain distinguishes between familiar and new experiences.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat experience inspired Jeong to embark on a deep-dive exploration of spatial learning and memory, which has resulted in a new study published this month in the journal Nature.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn their article, Jeong, Singer, and a team of Georgia Tech researchers explain how the brain rapidly learns and remembers important locations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe brain relies on spatial learning to navigate the world, whether it\u2019s finding a shortcut through a new neighborhood or remembering where you parked your car,\u201d said Jeong, the paper\u2019s lead author.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/news\/when-less-more-how-inhibition-shapes-learning\u0022\u003ERead the full story here \u0026gt;\u0026gt;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers reveal the dynamic role of inhibitory neurons in spatial memory and learning.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers reveal the dynamic role of inhibitory neurons in spatial memory and learning."}],"uid":"35575","created_gmt":"2025-04-11 21:36:05","changed_gmt":"2025-04-11 21:38:53","author":"adavidson38","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-04-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-04-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676824":{"id":"676824","type":"image","title":"Nature_Myriam-Wares-illustration-v3--1-_0.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThis illustration titled, \u0022Gateway to Memory,\u0022 illustrates Dr. Singer\u0027s and Jeong\u0027s research and how\u0026nbsp;interneurons act as gatekeepers that open specifically on paths to important locations to enable learning for those places. This art imaginatively represents this inhibitory gating as a monolithic gate opening and spilling light onto the crucial path, guiding the seeker toward their goal. Art by Myriam Wares\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1744407375","gmt_created":"2025-04-11 21:36:15","changed":"1744407375","gmt_changed":"2025-04-11 21:36:15","alt":"This illustration titled, \u0022Gateway to Memory,\u0022 illustrates Dr. Singer\u0027s and Jeong\u0027s research and how interneurons act as gatekeepers that open specifically on paths to important locations to enable learning for those places. This art imaginatively represents this inhibitory gating as a monolithic gate opening and spilling light onto the crucial path, guiding the seeker toward their goal. Art by Myriam Wares","file":{"fid":"260668","name":"Nature_Myriam-Wares-illustration-v3--1-_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/11\/Nature_Myriam-Wares-illustration-v3--1-_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/11\/Nature_Myriam-Wares-illustration-v3--1-_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":187805,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/04\/11\/Nature_Myriam-Wares-illustration-v3--1-_0.jpg?itok=2UyXrF6d"}}},"media_ids":["676824"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/neuro.gatech.edu\/tragedy-transformation","title":"From Tragedy to Transformation"}],"groups":[{"id":"66220","name":"Neuro"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"172970","name":"go-neuro"},{"id":"187582","name":"go-ibb"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"193656","name":"Neuro Next Initiative"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kelly.petty@bme.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKelly Petty\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003ECommunications\u003Cbr\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["kelly.petty@bme.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}