New Insight Into How the Brain Makes Memories

A team of biologists from Vanderbilt University recently studied how new memory connections are formed in the brain at the molecular and cellular level. The filaments that make these new connections, called dendritic spines, were studied a series of experiments published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. During the study, researchers reported that a specific signaling protein, Asef2, a member of a family of proteins that regular cell migration and adhesion, plays a critical role in spine formation. The findings are significant because Asef2 has previously been linked to autism and the co-occurrence of alcohol dependency and depression. “Alterations in dendritic spines are associated with many neurological and developmental disorders, such as autism, Alzheimer’s disease and down syndrome,” said the study’s lead researcher. “However, the formation and maintenance of spines is a very complex process that we are just beginning to understand.” Autism has been associated with immature spines, which do not connect properly with axons to form new synaptic junctions. However, a reduction in spines is characteristic of the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. This may help explain why individuals with Alzheimer’s have trouble forming new memories. Once researchers are able to figure out the mechanisms involved, they can potentially develop drugs to restore spine formation in people who have lost it. To read more about this study, click here.