"Embodied engrams predicatively modulate metabolism" by Prof. Tomás Ryan (Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin)

On behalf of the 'The Memory Tapestry: Weaving Insights Across Different Systems and Levels' Group, Prof. Tomás Ryan will give a talk titled "Embodied engrams predicatively modulate metabolism" as part of the 2026 Student/Postdoc-Run Speaker Series (SPRSS).

Abstract: Environmental challenges require the brain to coordinate both autonomic and behavioural responses to maintain physiological homeostasis. How and whether interoceptive experiences are encoded as memories remains unknown. We describe an experimental definition of “cold memory” in thermoregulatory metabolism, and the reciprocal relationship between cold experience and memory engrams. We show how this framework can be extended to memories of sickness experiences, where animals reduce their metabolism and peripheral physiology predicatively. Together, these results provide fundamental insights into how memory influences metabolic physiological adaptation, with implications for brain/body coordination as well as for neurological and cardiometabolic disorders.