title: Prolonged RNA changes in the Hermissenda eye induced by classical conditioning.
abstract: The incorporation of 32P into mRNA and the total amount of mRNA were increased 3- to 4-fold in eyes isolated from Hermissenda crassicornis trained to associate light with rotation on a turntable compared with animals trained with equal numbers of light and rotation events presented randomly and with naive animals. Incorporation of 32P into poly(A)- RNA was reduced by as much as 60%. The RNA changes were strongly correlated with the degree of learning and could not be accounted for by changes in [32P]ATP content. The RNA changes were maximal at 24 hr and were still detectable after 4 days, indicating that associative conditioning produces a period of increased DNA transcription that could be an intermediate step in memory consolidation. The RNA changes may in part account for recently observed conditioning-specific changes in the synthesis rates of specific proteins.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Alkon
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D008974:Mollusca / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger