US EditionBrain's Immune Cells Actively Erase Infant Memories, Study Finds
Researchers found that blocking microglia preserves memory engrams and prevents early forgetting in mice, suggesting microglia control which infant memories are lost.
- On January 20, 2026, researchers reported that blocking microglia prevents infant forgetting and improves memory in mice, according to a study led by Dr. Erika Stewart under Prof. Tomás Ryan published in PLOS Biology.
- Researchers found that microglia appear to file away engrams, organizing memory storage and expression, with those engrams enduring into adulthood in mice but not expressed, a trait specific to altricial mammals.
- Using targeted inhibition, the researchers suppressed microglial activity with pharmacological and receptor-specific methods in young mice, finding increased engram cell activation and less microglia activity in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and amygdala, which improved memory recall.
- The researchers say manipulating infantile amnesia opens new ways to imagine learning and forgetting, and previous work shows maternal immune activation disrupts infantile amnesia but modulation of microglia during an early postnatal window soon restores it.
- One remaining question is whether infantile amnesia is adaptive, and the memory field sees forgetting as a feature; identifying humans who may not experience infantile amnesia could inform early learning and education.
9 Articles
9 Articles
Blocking immune cells in the brain can prevent infantile amnesia
Scientists have found that blocking microglia (specialist immune cells in the brain) prevents infant forgetting ("infantile amnesia") and improves memory in mice, suggesting that microglia may actively manage memory formation and dictate what, and when, we forget.
Blocking microglia can prevent infantile amnesia
Scientists have found that blocking microglia (specialist immune cells in the brain) prevents infant forgetting ("infantile amnesia") and improves memory in mice, suggesting that microglia may actively manage memory formation and dictate what, and when, we forget.
Microglial activity during postnatal development is required for infantile amnesia in mice
Infantile amnesia limits recall of early-life memories, but its cellular basis is unclear. This study reveals that transient microglial activity during postnatal development regulates infant memory persistence and retrieval.
Microglial plasticity across development mediates infantile amnesia
Infantile amnesia, the inability to recall episodic memories formed during early childhood, is a hallmark of postnatal brain development. Yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. This work aimed to gain a better mechanistic understanding of infantile amnesia. Microglia, specialized ma …
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tcd.ieBlocking immune cells in the brain can prevent infant forgetting
21.01.2026 - Posted on: 21 January 2026 Blocking microglia prevents infant forgetting and improves memory in mice, suggesting that these specialist immune cells in the brain may actively manage memory formation and dictate what, and when, we forget.
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