Advanced Spectroscopic Technique Reveals How the Brain Regulates Storage of New Memories

Memories are stored in the intercellular space between the neurons of the brain, and a recent publication described how the brain regulates the mechanism that controls memory storage.

Investigators at Tel Aviv University (Israel) worked with neuronal cultures and brain slices from rats to study the biological mechanism of memory control with advanced molecular biology, optical imaging, and electrophysiological techniques. The primary tool used was fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) spectroscopy that could resolve protein-to-protein interactions in the brain at the 10-nm scale.

Results published in the July 29, 2010, issue of the journal Neuron revealed that GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid), a known nervous system amino acid, was integrally linked to the memory storage process. FRET data showed that higher concentrations of GABA near a synapse induced a stronger activation of its receptors, weakening basal synapse strength. As a result, GABA rendered this synapse more liable to the formation of new memories.

"We determined that variations in the local level of GABA in the vicinity of individual synapses are responsible for the differences or "heterogeneity” of synaptic strength,” said senior author Dr. Inna Slutsky, professor of physiology and pharmacology at Tel Aviv University. "And this heterogeneity may facilitate the formation of new memories.”

The investigators believe that results of this study may lay the groundwork for research to develop new memory enhancers and new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

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