Journal article
On the evolution of memory: a time for clocks
Frontiers in molecular neuroscience, Vol.5(2012), pp.23-23
2012
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/110024
PMCID: PMC3289401
PMID: 22403527
Abstract
Evolutionarily, what was the earliest engram? Biology has evolved to encode representations of past events, and in neuroscience, we are attempting to link experience-dependent changes in molecular signaling with cellular processes that ultimately lead to behavioral output. The theory of evolution has guided biological research for decades, and since phylogenetically conserved mechanisms drive circadian rhythms, these processes may serve as common predecessors underlying more complex behavioral phenotypes. For example, the cAMP/MAPK/CREB cascade is interwoven with the clock to trigger circadian output, and is also known to affect memory formation. Time-of-day dependent changes have been observed in long-term potentiation (LTP) within the suprachiasmatic nucleus and hippocampus, along with light-induced circadian phase resetting and fear conditioning behaviors. Together this suggests during evolution, similar processes underlying metaplasticity in more simple circuits may have been redeployed in higher-order brain regions. Therefore, this notion predicts a model that LTP and metaplasticity may exist in neural circuits of other species, through phylogenetically conserved pathways, leading to several testable hypotheses.
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Details
- Title
- On the evolution of memory: a time for clocks
- Creators
- Jason R Gerstner - Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Publication Details
- Frontiers in molecular neuroscience, Vol.5(2012), pp.23-23
- Academic Unit
- Biomedical Sciences, Department of
- Publisher
- Switzerland
- Grant note
- T32 HL007713 / NHLBI NIH HHS
- Identifiers
- 99900547553701842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article