Watching Molecules Morph into Memories

In two studies published in the January 2014 issue of Science, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine used advanced imaging techniques to provide insight into how the brain creates memories. With never before used technology, a mouse model was developed in which neurons crucial to making memories were given fluorescent tags so they could be observed traveling in real time. Researchers tagged all molecules of messenger RNA (mRNA) that code for beta-actin, an essential structural protein that acts as a key player in memory making, and stimulated neurons from the mouse’s hippocampus (where memories are made and stored). Scientists were then able to watch the fluorescently glowing mRNA molecules form in the nuclei of neurons and travel within dendrites, the neuron’s branched projections. The findings from these studies suggest that neurons have developed an ingenious strategy for controlling how memory-making proteins do their job. To read more about this study, click here.