Back at the Old Hostel, Some New Thoughts

After quite a while, I visited my beloved MC College hostel.

Of course, I’ve gone there several times since admission.

But this time was a bit different.

I met my roommate, the respected Jony Bhai.

We’d met before, of course.

But those meetings rarely lasted long.

This time, we sat and talked continuously for about three to three and a half hours.

Much of our conversation touched on spiritual topics. Talking to him always feels like diving into another, spiritual world and immersing myself in it.

At one point, he suddenly asked me a question,

“After seeing a certain thing or subject, is it somehow possible—say, by injecting some hormone—to vividly recall that thing from memory without actually seeing it again?”

The question gave me pause. Because it’s not just mere curiosity; it directly points to the relationship between the human brain, memory, and hormones.

I replied,

Human memory isn’t stored in one specific place; rather, it’s created through the coordination of different parts of the brain. The Hippocampus, in particular, plays a key role in creating and storing new memories, while the Amygdala governs emotional memories.

When we see something, it’s not just registered by our eyes—the brain stores it as connections between neurons, or a synaptic pattern. Later, when we recall that memory, the brain partially reactivates that same neural pattern.

Here, hormones play an important role. For example—

Dopamine helps strengthen memories that are important or pleasurable.

Adrenaline makes memories of exciting or frightening events much more vivid.

Cortisol can sometimes make memories stronger, but in excess, it can also weaken them.

However, simply injecting a specific hormone won’t make a particular scene or object clearly reappear in the brain.

Because memory isn’t like “pressing a button.” It’s the result of a complex network of many neurons.

But scientists have already shown that by artificially activating specific neurons or a memory engram in the brain, memories can be triggered. Recent research in Neuroscience has shown that in mice, it’s possible to reactivate specific memories using laser or electrical stimulation.

So, in the future, it might be possible to revive particular memories using technology.

But just calling up a memory with a single hormone injection—the human brain doesn’t really work that simply yet.

Finally, I told him,

The human brain is actually like a library.

Hormones can light up that library or dim its lights,

But which book you choose to open—that’s determined by the connections between neurons and the story of your experiences.

And maybe that’s why—

Human memory is not just science,

It’s a little bit of mystery, too.

Md. Iftekhar Hossain
2nd Year MBBS, Cox’s Bazar Medical College, Bangladesh |
Areas of interest primarily include behavioral science, neuroscience, and habit science.