Biochemistry Of Memory Research Articles

The biochemistry of memory

Almost fifty years ago, Julius Adler initiated a program of research to gain insights into the basic biochemistry of intelligent behavior by studying the molecular mechanisms that underlie the chemotactic responses of Escherichia coli. All living organisms share elements of a common biochemistry for metabolism, growth and heredity - why not intelligence? Neurobiologists have demonstrated that this is the case for nervous systems in animals ranging from worms to man. Motile unicellular organisms such as E. coli exhibit rudimentary behaviors that can be loosely described in terms of cognitive phenomena such as memory and learning. Adler's initiative at least raised the prospect that, because of the numerous experimental advantages provided by E. coli, it would be the first organism whose behavior could be understood at molecular resolution.

The biochemistry of memory: The 26 year journey of a ‘new and specific hypothesis’

This Special Issue of Neurobiology of Learning and Memory dedicated to Dr. Richard Thompson to celebrate his 80th birthday and his numerous contributions to the field of learning and memory gave us the opportunity to revisit the hypothesis we proposed more than 25 years ago regarding the biochemistry of learning and memory. This review summarizes our early 1980s hypothesis and then describes how it was tested and modified over the years following its introduction. We then discuss the current status of the hypothesis and provide some examples of how it has led to unexpected insights into the memory problems that accompany a broad range of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Protein carboxyl methylation and the biochemistry of memory

Bacterial chemotaxis is mediated by two reversible protein modification chemistries: phosphorylation and carboxyl methylation. Attractants bind to membrane chemoreceptors that control the activity of a protein kinase which acts in turn to control flagellar motor activity. Coordinate changes in receptor carboxyl methylation provide a negative feedback mechanism that serves a memory function. Protein carboxyl methylation might play an analogous role in the nervous system. Two protein carboxyl methyltransferases serve to regulate signal transduction pathways in eukaryotic cells. One is highly expressed in the Purkinje layer of the cerebellum where it methyl esterifies prenylated cysteine residues at the carboxyl-termini of Ras-related and heterotrimeric G-proteins. The other is abundant throughout the brain where it methylates the carboxyl-terminus of protein phosphatase 2A. The phosphatase methyltransferase and the protein methylesterase that reverses phosphatase methylation are structurally related to the corresponding bacterial chemotaxis methylating and demethylating enzymes. Recent results indicate that deficiencies in phosphatase methylation play an important role in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease.

The biochemistry of memory: a new and specific hypothesis.

Recent studies have uncovered a synaptic process with properties required for an intermediate step in memory storage. Calcium rapidly and irreversibly increases the number of receptors for glutamate (a probable neurotransmitter) in forebrain synaptic membranes by activating a proteinase (calpain) that degrades fodrin, a spectrin-like protein. This process provides a means through which physiological activity could produce long-lasting changes in synaptic chemistry and ultrastructure. Since the process is only poorly represented in the brain stem, it is hypothesized to be responsible for those forms of memory localized in the telencephalon.

The Biochemistry of Memory. With an Inquiry Into the Function of the Brain Mucoids.Samuel Bogoch

<i>The Biochemistry of Memory. With an Inquiry Into the Function of the Brain Mucoids.</i>Samuel Bogoch

The Biochemistry of Memory. With an Inquiry into the Function of the Brain Mucoids

The Biochemistry of Memory. With an Inquiry into the Function of the Brain Mucoids

Book Review: The Biochemistry of Memory

Book Review: The Biochemistry of Memory

Memory Storage

The Biochemistry of Memory With an Inquiry into the Function of the Brain Mucoids. By Samuel Bogoch. Pp. xi + 254. (Oxford University Press: London and New York, August 1968.) 64s.