Scientists Find Memory Molecule

PhysOrg.com ^ | August 27, 2006 | Unattributed

[annie laurie]

In an article in Science magazine, SUNY Downstate researchers describe erasing memory from the brain by targeting a molecular mechanism that controls memory. Finding may be applied to chronic pain, memory loss, and other conditions.

Scientists at SUNY Downstate Medical Center have discovered a molecular mechanism that maintains memories in the brain. In an article in Science magazine, they demonstrate that by inhibiting the molecule they can erase long-term memories, much as you might erase a computer disc.

Furthermore, erasing the memory from the brain does not prevent the ability to re-learn the memory, much as a cleaned computer disc may be re-used. This finding may some day have applications in treating chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and memory loss, among other conditions.

The SUNY Downstate researchers reported in the August 25 issue of Science that an enzyme molecule called “protein kinase M zeta” preserves long-term memories through persistent strengthening of synaptic connections between neurons. This is analogous to the mechanism storing information as 0’s and 1’s in a computer’s hard disc. By inhibiting the enzyme, scientists were able to erase a memory that had been stored for one day, or even one month. This function in memory storage is specific to protein kinase M zeta, because inhibiting related molecules did not disrupt memory.

These findings may be useful for the treatment of disorders characterized by the pathological over-strengthening of synaptic connections, such as neuropathic pain, phantom limb syndrome, dystonia, and post-traumatic stress. Conversely, the identification of the core molecular mechanism for memory storage may focus effort on the development of specific therapeutic agents that enhance memory persistence and prevent memory loss. Earlier this year, SUNY Downstate scientists reported that PKMzeta was bound up in the tangles of Alzheimer's disease, thus perhaps blocking its function in memory storage.

Source: SUNY Downstate Medical Center

[annie laurie]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

[annie laurie]

Ping

[Salamander]

Or.....

[EricT.]

Who needs help remembering things.....what were we talking about?

[kinoxi]

Then forgot where they put it...

[Dr.Zoidberg]

If there's ever a way to target specific memories, I'll be the first man in line.

I would give everything I own to forget my ex wife and her family.

[Reagan is King]

Thanks for the post. As someone whose father is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's I'm interested in the latest developments in memory research. It's a terrible disease.

[aynrandfreak]

bttt

[PistolPaknMama]

Scientists Find Memory Molecule

Great news 'cause I forgot where I put mine.

[LukeL]

If you went in to get your memory erased how would you know you had the treatment done?

I smell a scam in the works.

[Boiling point]

I always forget things like, peoples names, my car keys, peoples names...what was this thread about?

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Not knowing if your question was meant in jest, the simple answer is comparing MRI scans of before the treatment and after.

That should work.

[hosepipe]

[ This function in memory storage is specific to protein kinase M zeta, ]

Bull....

[diamond6]

bttt

[adorno]

Furthermore, erasing the memory from the brain does not prevent the ability to re-learn the memory, much as a cleaned computer disc may be re-used.

Before a person's memory gets erased with the hope of "re-loading" that person's memories into those memory molecules, hopefully somebody remembered to back up the person's memory to begin with.

[Fiddlstix]

Hmmmmm.........
I don't need anything to make me forget stuff.....
At my age I forget most stuff anyway..........
(In fact, I don't even remember posting this.)

[papasmurf]

Great post, thank you.

:O)

P

[Joe 6-pack]

"I would give everything I own to forget my ex wife and her family."

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
-George Santayana

[annie laurie]

You're most welcome :)

[Dr.Zoidberg]

I don't know, even if I forgot everything that happened, I'm too old to go through it again.

Gravity and inertia have done enough damage to keep me from chasing the girls like I used to. (Even if I could still chase them, I'm too slow to catch them.