Although scientists already understand many of the minute details of brain health and function, there is still a lot left to discover. And, by pinpointing the specific elements involved in various neurological processes, medical researchers can develop more targeted treatments for some of the most destructive mental disorders. One recent discovery about the inner workings of memories has the potential to shed light on conditions like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's.
ScienceDaily reports that scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have managed to determine some of the molecules responsible for the conversion of short-term memories into more sustaining long-term ones. Led by Yale postdoctoral fellow Joshua Hawk as part of his thesis project at UPenn, the research team chose to zero in on nuclear receptors – the neural proteins that play a role in the creation of memories.
First, the scientists trained a group of lab mice to essentially form new memories by developing connections between places and events. They then observed how their brains' had been affected by the training – namely, where the receptor genes showed more expression patterns. The researchers continued this testing with mice that had been genetically modified to control which parts of their brains were activated during memory creation.
Further tests involving the impairment of designated genes revealed that one neural component in particular – the Nr4a gene – was linked specifically to long-term memories. By observing its functions, scientists could determine other genes that contributed to the process.
According to Hawk, narrowing down the minute molecules involved in these functions is essential to developing medications and brain enhancers that can treat a variety of memory-related symptoms.