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Study Offers Glimpse of Molecules That Keep Memories AliveProblems in how the brain sustains "working memories" may provide clues about how some mental illnesses develop.
Working memory is a kind of temporary-storage system in the brain. Unlike long-term memory, it stores disposable information we must keep in mind only transiently, for tasks at hand. But how?
NIMH-funded researchers have now identified, in animals, a series of molecular interactions in the brain that sustains transient memories of locations, also called spatial working memories. Results of the research by Amy F.T. Arnsten, PhD, (Yale University) and colleagues were reported in the April 20 issue of Cell.
The report offers compelling evidence that the team has found a sequence of molecular events directly responsible for a complex cognitive process. The findings can help scientists understand the biological basis of mental illnesses characterized by memory dysfunction, such as schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
How the scientists made their discoveries
In the laboratory, the team studied spatial working memory in monkeys by training them to look at a specific point, look away, then find it again later. While the monkeys weren't looking at the point, their brains were storing its location. During this period of remembering, the scientists recorded patterns of impulse-firing in networks of brain cells known to regulate working memory. The networks are in the prefrontal cortex, the most evolved part of the brain, which controls "thinking" functions — learning, memory, and judgment, for example.
By then manipulating the impulse-firing with chemical compounds, the researchers were able to identify the molecular interactions that strengthen these networks — and thus strengthen working memory. They found that in response to environmental demands for working memory to go into action, these molecular interactions rapidly enable temporary connections among the cells, thus forming transient networks.
What it means from a practical standpoint
The results demonstrate the power of recently developed molecular and cellular neuroscience techniques to explain complex cognitive processes and behaviors, and have important implications for further research on brain disorders. For mental health researchers, in particular, further investigations in this area may reveal potential new targets for development of treatments for diseases that involve impaired cognition, such as schizophrenia. The findings also hold potential for research on age-related memory problems.
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