BrainBlog

A press release rom the NIH: Genetic Tags Reveal Secrets of Memories’ Staying Power in Mice A better understanding of how memory works is emerging from a newfound ability to link a learning experience in a mouse to consequent changes in the inner workings of its neurons. Researchers, supported in part by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), have developed a way to pinpoint the specific cellular components that sustain a specific memory in genetically-engineered mice. "Remarkably, this research demonstrates a way to untangle precisely which cells and connections are activated by a particular memory," said NIMH Director Thomas Insel, M.D. "We are actually learning the molecular basis of learning and memory." For a memory to last long-term, the neural connections holding it need to be strengthened by incorporating new proteins triggered by the learning. Yet, it's been a mystery how these new proteins — born deep inside...