Light exposure before learning improves memory consolidation at night.
Light is recently recognized as a modulator able to activate the hippocampus and modulate memory processing, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms. Here, we report that in mice, a short pulse of white light before learning dramatically improves consolidation of contextual fear memory during the night. The light exposure increases hippocampal active p21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1) and CA1 long-term potentiation (LTP). These light effects are abolished in PAK1 knockout and dominant-negative transgenic mice, but preserved by expression of constitutively active PAK1 in the hippocampus. Our results indicate that light can act as a switch of PAK1 activity that modulate CA1 LTP and thereby memory consolidation without affecting learning and short-term memory.
Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming 650223, China.|KIZ-SU Joint Laboratory of Animal Models and Drug Development, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.|Laboratory of Learning and Memory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming 650223, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Li-Li
LL
Shan
Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming 650223, China.|Laboratory of Learning and Memory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming 650223, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Hao
H
Guo
Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Tongji University School of Medicine, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China.
Ning-Ning
NN
Song
Neurosciences &Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 555 University Ave., Toronto, Ontario 5MS 3H2, Canada.
Zheng-Ping
ZP
Jia
Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming 650223, China.|CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science, 320 Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, China.
Xin-Tian
XT
Hu
KIZ-SU Joint Laboratory of Animal Models and Drug Development, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.|State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China.
Jing-Fei
JF
Huang
Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Tongji University School of Medicine, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China.
Yu-Qiang
YQ
Ding
Gal
G
Richter-Levin
The Institute for the Study of Affective Neuroscience, and Sagol Department of Neurobiology and Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Gal
G
Richter-Levine
Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming 650223, China.|KIZ-SU Joint Laboratory of Animal Models and Drug Development, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.|Laboratory of Learning and Memory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming 650223, China.
Qi-Xin
QX
Zhou
Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming 650223, China.|KIZ-SU Joint Laboratory of Animal Models and Drug Development, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.|Laboratory of Learning and Memory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming 650223, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.|CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science, 320 Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, China.
Lin
L
Xu
D000818:Animals; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D008027:Light; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation; D008568:Memory; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D054462:p21-Activated Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
C515905:Pak1 protein, mouse; D054462:p21-Activated Kinases