Molecular mechanisms of memory retrieval.
Memory retrieval is a fundamental component or stage of memory processing. In fact, retrieval is the only possible measure of memory. The ability to recall past events is a major determinant of survival strategies in all species and is of paramount importance in determining our uniqueness as individuals. Most biological studies of memory using brain lesion and/or gene manipulation techniques cannot distinguish between effects on the molecular mechanisms of the encoding or consolidation of memories and those responsible for their retrieval from storage. Here we examine recent findings indicating the major molecular steps involved in memory retrieval in selected brain regions of the mammalian brain. Together the findings strongly suggest that memory formation and retrieval may share some molecular mechanisms in the hippocampus and that retrieval initiates extinction requiring activation of several signaling cascades and protein synthesis.
Szapiro
German
G
Instituto de Biologia Celular y Neurociencias, Facultad de Medicina, UBA, Paraguay 2155, piso 3, 1121 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Galante
Julieta M
JM
Barros
Daniela M
DM
Levi de Stein
Miguelina
M
Vianna
Monica R M
MR
Izquierdo
Luciana A
LA
Izquierdo
Ivan
I
Medina
Jorge H
JH
D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity