long-term memory

Proteins that are vital to long-term memory

September 16, 2013

(Credit: iStockphoto)

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute(TSRI) have found a group of proteins called Wnts that are essential to the formation of long-term memories.

These proteins send signals from the outside to the inside of a cell, inducing a cellular response that is crucial for normal functioning of the adult brain (and aspects of embryonic development, including stem cell differentiation).

“By removing the function of three proteins in the Wnt signaling pathway, we produced a deficit in long-term but not short-term memory,” said Ron Davis, chair of the TSRI Department of Neuroscience. “The pathway is clearly part of the conversion of short-term memory to the long-term stable form, which occurs through changes in gene expression.”/.../