The molecule-group schema of memory: storage, recognition and retrieval.
A new schema, the molecule-group schema, explains memory storage, recognition and retrieval. The schema consists of three postulates about molecular specificity, grouping, and diffusion. In the schema, the physical memory trace consists of a stable group of different kinds of highly specific molecules. The schema is intended to provide an alternative to the widely known synaptic-change schema, in which it is assumed that changes of synaptic efficacies constitute the memory trace. The new schema is used to develop a particular model of memory. In the model, recognition occurs when specific intracellular "endotransmitters" react with complementary "endoreceptors" in the same cell. Retrieval, modelled as the process whereby memory causes the recurrence of a previously experienced pattern of neural activity, occurs when a group of pools of endotransmitters, located within an intracellular memory organelle, is released, allowing the endotransmitters to diffuse to the periphery of the cell body. The model suffices to explain long-term and short-term memory of events as well as innate memory.
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology