Neuroscience
Visualizing long-term memory formation in two neurons of the Drosophila brain
Science. 2012 Feb 10;335(6069):678-85
Chen CC, Wu JK, Lin HW, Pai TP, Fu TF, Wu CL, Tully T, Chiang AS
Abstract
Long-term memory (LTM) depends on the synthesis of new proteins. Using a temperature-sensitive ribosome-inactivating toxin to acutely inhibit protein synthesis, we screened individual neurons making new proteins after olfactory associative conditioning in Drosophila. Surprisingly, LTM was impaired after inhibiting protein synthesis in two dorsal-anterior-lateral (DAL) neurons but not in the mushroom body (MB), which is considered the adult learning and memory center. Using a photoconvertible fluorescent protein KAEDE to report de novo protein synthesis, we have directly visualized cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) response element-binding protein (CREB)-dependent transcriptional activation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and period genes in the DAL neurons after spaced but not massed training. Memory retention was impaired by blocking neural output in DAL during retrieval but not during acquisition or consolidation. These findings suggest an extra-MB memory circuit in Drosophila: LTM consolidation (MB to DAL), storage (DAL), and retrieval (DAL to MB).
PMID: 22323813 [PubMed - in process]
- Anisomycin Is Strong
In yesterday's story, EVERYTHING IS WRONG [...about protein synthesis and memory formation], The Neurocritic mentioned a potentially portentous new paper (Canal et al., 2007) that appears to question a [mostly] accepted theory that the formation of...
- Memory: Bdnf And Micrornas
Making memories: How one protein does it The JHU Gazette 12 March 2012 [snip] "Studying tiny bits of genetic material that control protein formation in the brain, Johns Hopkins scientists say that they have new clues to how memories are made and how drugs...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Cricket Learning And Memory
A very interesting paper about classical conditioning. Enjoy. If you are a student, you might also see this referred to as Pavlovian conditioning ... Makoto Mizunami, Sae Unoki, Yasuhiro Mori, Daisuke Hirashima, Ai Hatano, & Yukihisa Matsumoto. (2009)....
- Abstract Of The Day: Malnutrition
Nakagawasai O, Yamadera F, Sato S, Taniguchi R, Hiraga H, Arai Y, Murakami H, Mawatari K, Niijima F, Tan-No K, & Tadano T. Alterations in cognitive function in prepubertal mice with protein malnutrition: relationship to changes in choline acetyltransferase....
- Business World: Protein Misfolding And Foldrx, Satori, & Zyentia
From The Boston Globe:Crumpled proteins a new frontier By Scott Kirsner The Boston Globe May 30, 2005 Inside your body, at this very moment, a class in intracellular origami is taking place. Long strands of protein are being twisted into intricate shapes...
Neuroscience
Neuropsychology Abstract of the Day: Memory Formation
Visualizing long-term memory formation in two neurons of the Drosophila brain
Science. 2012 Feb 10;335(6069):678-85
Chen CC, Wu JK, Lin HW, Pai TP, Fu TF, Wu CL, Tully T, Chiang AS
Abstract
Long-term memory (LTM) depends on the synthesis of new proteins. Using a temperature-sensitive ribosome-inactivating toxin to acutely inhibit protein synthesis, we screened individual neurons making new proteins after olfactory associative conditioning in Drosophila. Surprisingly, LTM was impaired after inhibiting protein synthesis in two dorsal-anterior-lateral (DAL) neurons but not in the mushroom body (MB), which is considered the adult learning and memory center. Using a photoconvertible fluorescent protein KAEDE to report de novo protein synthesis, we have directly visualized cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) response element-binding protein (CREB)-dependent transcriptional activation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and period genes in the DAL neurons after spaced but not massed training. Memory retention was impaired by blocking neural output in DAL during retrieval but not during acquisition or consolidation. These findings suggest an extra-MB memory circuit in Drosophila: LTM consolidation (MB to DAL), storage (DAL), and retrieval (DAL to MB).
PMID: 22323813 [PubMed - in process]
- Anisomycin Is Strong
In yesterday's story, EVERYTHING IS WRONG [...about protein synthesis and memory formation], The Neurocritic mentioned a potentially portentous new paper (Canal et al., 2007) that appears to question a [mostly] accepted theory that the formation of...
- Memory: Bdnf And Micrornas
Making memories: How one protein does it The JHU Gazette 12 March 2012 [snip] "Studying tiny bits of genetic material that control protein formation in the brain, Johns Hopkins scientists say that they have new clues to how memories are made and how drugs...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Cricket Learning And Memory
A very interesting paper about classical conditioning. Enjoy. If you are a student, you might also see this referred to as Pavlovian conditioning ... Makoto Mizunami, Sae Unoki, Yasuhiro Mori, Daisuke Hirashima, Ai Hatano, & Yukihisa Matsumoto. (2009)....
- Abstract Of The Day: Malnutrition
Nakagawasai O, Yamadera F, Sato S, Taniguchi R, Hiraga H, Arai Y, Murakami H, Mawatari K, Niijima F, Tan-No K, & Tadano T. Alterations in cognitive function in prepubertal mice with protein malnutrition: relationship to changes in choline acetyltransferase....
- Business World: Protein Misfolding And Foldrx, Satori, & Zyentia
From The Boston Globe:Crumpled proteins a new frontier By Scott Kirsner The Boston Globe May 30, 2005 Inside your body, at this very moment, a class in intracellular origami is taking place. Long strands of protein are being twisted into intricate shapes...