Mystery of the memory engram: History, current knowledge, and unanswered questions.

Autor: Lopez MR; Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, United States., Wasberg SMH; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA., Gagliardi CM; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA., Normandin ME; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA., Muzzio IA; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. Electronic address: isabel-muzzio@uiowa.edu.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews [Neurosci Biobehav Rev] 2024 Apr; Vol. 159, pp. 105574. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 06.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105574
Abstrakt: The quest to understand the memory engram has intrigued humans for centuries. Recent technological advances, including genetic labelling, imaging, optogenetic and chemogenetic techniques, have propelled the field of memory research forward. These tools have enabled researchers to create and erase memory components. While these innovative techniques have yielded invaluable insights, they often focus on specific elements of the memory trace. Genetic labelling may rely on a particular immediate early gene as a marker of activity, optogenetics may activate or inhibit one specific type of neuron, and imaging may capture activity snapshots in a given brain region at specific times. Yet, memories are multifaceted, involving diverse arrays of neuronal subpopulations, circuits, and regions that work in concert to create, store, and retrieve information. Consideration of contributions of both excitatory and inhibitory neurons, micro and macro circuits across brain regions, the dynamic nature of active ensembles, and representational drift is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of the complex nature of memory.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors do not have conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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