Comunicado de prensa
Investigadores de Einstein descubren cómo se forman los recuerdos duraderos en el cerebro.
25 de abril de 2023
April 25, 2023—(BRONX NY)—Helping your mother make pancakes when you were three…riding your bike without training wheels…your first romantic kiss: How do we retain vivid memories of long-ago events? As described in a paper published online today in Neuron, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found the explanation.
“La capacidad de aprender nueva información y almacenarla durante largos periodos es una de las características más notables del cerebro”, afirmó el PhD Robert H. Singer, coautor del artículo. “Hemos hecho un descubrimiento sorprendente en ratones sobre la base molecular de la formación de esos recuerdos a largo plazo”. El Dr. Singer es profesor de biología celular y del Departamento de Neurociencia Dominick P. Purpura, catedrático emérito de anatomía y biología estructural, y director del Programa de Biología del ARN en Einstein.
Some aspects of the cellular basis of memory were already known. They’re made by neurons (nerve cells) and stored in a brain region called the hippocampus. They form when repeated neural stimulation strengthens synapses—the connections between nerve cells. Proteins are needed to stabilize the long-lasting synaptic connections required for long-term memories. The blueprints for those proteins are molecules of messenger RNA (mRNA) that, in turn, are transcribed (copied) from memory-associated genes.
“The paradox is that it takes a long time—several hours—to form a lasting memory, yet the mRNAs and proteins associated with making proteins disappear in less than an hour,” said Sulagna Das, Ph.D., first and co-corresponding author of the paper and research assistant professor of cell biology at Einstein. “How could that be?”
To answer that question, the research team developed a mouse model in which they fluorescently tagged all the molecules of mRNA that flow from Arc, a gene critically important for converting our activities and other experiences into long-term memories. The researchers stimulated synapses in neurons from the mouse hippocampus and then—using high-resolution imaging techniques they developed—observed the results in individual nerve cells in real time.
To their amazement, they observed that a single stimulus to the neuron triggered numerous cycles in which the memory-coding gene Arc produced mRNA molecules that were then translated into synapse-strengthening Arc proteins.
“We saw that some of the protein molecules made from that initial synaptic stimulus go back to Arc and reactivate it, initiating another cycle of mRNA formation and protein production followed by several others,” said Dr. Singer.
We’ve made a startling discovery in mice regarding the molecular basis for making those long-term memories.
Robert H. Singer, Doctor en Filosofía.
“With each cycle, we saw more and more protein accumulating to form ‘hot spots’ at the synapse, which are where memories are cemented into place,” said Dr. Das. We’d discovered a previously unknown feedback loop that explained how short-lived mRNAs and proteins can create long-lived memories.
Consider what’s involved in memorizing a poem, suggested Dr. Singer: “To make a lasting memory requires that you read the poem repeatedly and each reading can be thought of as an intermittent stimulus that adds memory-building protein to the synapse.”
Dr. Das noted that faulty expression of the Arc gene has been implicated in memory difficulties in humans and is linked to neurological disorders including autism spectrum disorder and Alzheimer’s disease. “What we learn about Arc’s response to nerve-cell stimulation can provide insights into the causes of these health problems,” she noted.
The paper is titled “Maintenance of a short-lived protein required for long-term memory involves cycles of transcription and local translation.” Additional authors include Pablo Castillo, M.D., Ph.D. and Pablo Lituma, Ph.D. (formerly at Einstein) at Weill Cornell Medical College.
