Scientists May Have Found Molecular Gatekeeper Of Long-Term Memory (arstechnica.com)

hackingbear writes: While the general steps of forming a long-term memory are clear, the details, such as how exactly the molecular signals get shuttled to the command center, which generally has tight security, are unclear. A new study, led by neuroscientist Yi Zhong of Tsinghua University in Beijing, may finally have that answer. In the tiny minds of fruit flies, a protein called importin-7 acts to shuttle the memory-triggering signal into the nucleus with its top-level clearance to the restricted area, researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. With genetic tweaking, the researchers dialed up and down the amount of importin-7 in the flies and then put them through the memory training and test. They found that cranking up levels of the shuttle protein strengthened the long-term memories of the flies, while turning it off weakened their memory. "The current work confirms that [importin-7] is indeed critical at the behavioral level in mediating [long-term memory] consolidation," the authors concluded.

Comments

well, they did

[turkeydance]

but where did they put it?

Re:well, they did

[p0p0]

I forgot.

From the article

[110010001000]

"We also acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Whats His Face and his assistant. The one with the big boobs. Jane something or other."

Fantastic malfunctions

[invictusvoyd]

Any one of these brains could teach us more about ours .
http://www.neatorama.com/2008/...

Hopeful, but too high to read the article

[PopeRatzo]

Scientists May Have Found Molecular Gatekeeper Of Long-Term Memory

Please God, let it be weed.

Re:Hopeful, but too high to read the article

[PopeRatzo]

That's deep. Say, you got any snacks around here?

memory blockers

[Gravis Zero]

I've been assisting with the second phase of this project which is to medications to prevent the creation of long term memories . We are testing a few different compounds but so far no luck.

Re:memory blockers

[Gravis Zero]

Hey! Who hacked my account and how do they know about my involvement?!

Any practical applications?

[mark-t]

Because since it apparently requires making changes to genes, this method of memory enhancement kind of limits what would otherwise have been the most obvious applications for anybody who has already exited a womb.

Or am I misunderstanding what "genetic tweaking" means?

Re:Any practical applications?

[Bite The Pillow]

Since this is DashSlot, "genetic tweaking" could have been "generic twerking" or "general hospital" but it could mean epigenetic changes, methylation, or any of the things discovered in the last 15 plus years. I could read the article to you, but its much more fun to tell you to eat your butt.

Nonsense words, ignorant reader base?

[vonvogel]

I question the article ars article. Quoting: "a protein called importin-7 acts to shuttle the memory-triggering signal into the nucleus with its top-level clearance to the restricted area". "Top-level clearance" is just ridiculous in describing this biological process. Was the ars Technica article adapted to a computer knowing, but otherwise ignorant reader base?

Ok...

[bytesex]

"such as how exactly the molecular signals get shuttled to the command center, which generally has tight security, are unclear."

This write-up simply *has* to have its own honorary place in the top-so-many of bad write-ups.

In the long-long-term?

[symes]

I'd be interested in the long term consequences of dialing up importin-7 - sure, recall of most recent events might be improved, but are they more likely to forget distant items as new information is stored? Brains are pretty darn sophisticated but still, without clever mnemonic tricks, memory is limited.

Obvious question:

[avandesande]

Coffee?