| August 28, 2024: Today is the 179th birthday of Scientific American! As we celebrate, we’re also covering Neolithic engineering prowess, how we store memories and defenses against the “Gish gallop.” —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor |
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| ‘Memory Molecule’ Discovery A search for molecules that help us cement memories in place has long fascinated neuroscientists. Now, researchers have identified a key player, called KIBRA (kidney and brain expressed adaptor protein), which works in concert with an already identified protein, called PKMzeta (protein kinase Mzeta), to “tag” and then strengthen synapses. The finding resolves some recent but initially contradictory results in mice. It’s now clear that while PKMzeta is crucial to memory storage, there is no single “memory molecule,” writes freelance science journalist Simon Makin. What the experts say: “It’s not PKMzeta that’s required for maintaining a memory, it’s the continual interaction between PKMzeta and this targeting molecule, called KIBRA. If you block KIBRA from PKMzeta, you’ll erase a memory that’s a month old,” says neurologist Todd Sacktor, a co-author of the newly published result. Why it matters: A complete understanding of how we form and store memories is crucial for explaining how we learn and maintain our sense of self. Exactly how memory works has been a fundamental question for neuroscientists. |
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