How to preserve memory in the brain

How to preserve memory in the brain is not fully invented. It is believed that neurons preserve the memory of the change in its position. But after trying many discoveries for the protein that works for it, scientists have discovered it.

The brain is composed of neurons that communicate with each other through structures called synapses, the contact point between neurons. Synapses convey electrical signals from the "sender" neuron to the "receiver" neuron. Importantly, a synapse can vary in strength; a strong synapse has a large effect on its target cell, a weak synapse has little effect.

A final experiment, says Lisman, was the most exciting: They started out by making the synapse so strong that it was "saturated," as indicated by the fact that no further strengthening could be induced. They then "erased" the memory with the chemical CN-19. If the "memory" was really erased, the synapse should no longer be saturated. To test this hypothesis, Lisman's team again stimulated the synapse and found that it could once again "learn." Taken together, these results demonstrated the ability of CN19 to erase the memory of a synapse -- a critical criterion for establishing that the CaMKII/NMDAR complex is the long sought memory storage molecule in the brain.

Others involved include Nikolai Otmakhov and Peng Zhang from Brandeis and Gyulnara Kasumova, who worked in the Lisman laboratory for several years as an undergraduate. An additional group contributing to the work was that of Johannes Hell, Professor of Pharmacology at the UC Davis School of Medicine. He and his student, Ivar S. Stein, used immunoprecipitation methods to actually show that the CN19 had dissolved the CaMKII/NMDAR complex.