title: Molecular and cellular approaches to memory allocation in neural circuits.
abstract: Although memory allocation is a subject of active research in computer science, little is known about how the brain allocates information within neural circuits. There is an extensive literature on how specific types of memory engage different parts of the brain, and how neurons in these regions process and store information. Until recently, however, the mechanisms that determine how specific cells and synapses within a neural circuit (and not their neighbors) are recruited during learning have received little attention. Recent findings suggest that memory allocation is not random, but rather specific mechanisms regulate where information is stored within a neural circuit. New methods that allow tagging, imaging, activation, and inactivation of neurons in behaving animals promise to revolutionize studies of brain circuits, including memory allocation. Results from these studies are likely to have a considerable impact on computer science, as well as on the understanding of memory and its disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles, 695 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1761, USA. silvaa@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Alcino J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rogerson
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shobe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Balaji
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000502:physiology; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D055495:Neurogenesis; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein