NPAS4 gene regulates the ability of the brain to form new memories

The neuroscientists led by Yingxi Lin, working at the McGovern Institute of Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, discovered: When you experience new events, the gene Pnas4 (active in the region The hippocampus of the brain, which is important in forming long-term memories, will play a key role in controlling the brain process : encoding these new memories by changing connections (turning on or start many other genes in nerve cells) between nerve cells.

The results of this study were published in Science, published December 23, 2011.

The results of this study not only reveal the molecular foundations of memory formation, but also help neurologists determine the exact location of memories within the brain. In an experiment (experimental mice with mild electrocution) to understand the genetic mechanisms of memory formation, scientists found: To remember new memories, Npas4 gene (turned on) Very soon in this condition) turn on another series of genes that regulate the transmission system of nerve electrical impulses inside the brain by adjusting the power of nerve joints, or connections between nerve cells. sutra.

Currently, researchers have identified only a few of the hundreds of other genes (possibly controlled by the Npas4 gene). Npas4 Gene is a transcription factor, which means it controls the replication of other genes into information RNA (genetic material carrying building proteins that guide from the nucleus to the rest of the cell). MIT experiments show that the Npas4 gene is bound to: activation of specific genes (experimental mice are only scared when the Npas4 gene turns on other genes in the CA3 region of the hippocampus in the rat brain). and direct an enzyme called RNA polymerase II to start copying them.

In the future, scientists hope to pinpoint and label specific neurons that are storing specific memories and can be easily removed when needed.