The magazine of the european research area European Commission Copenhagen, a missed chance?

Cerebral cortex.

Fragments of cancerous cells.

Exoplanet Gliese 581. Artist’s view.

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IN BRIEF

 research

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eu No. 63 | APRIL 2010 

21

a lock. Researchers see it as offering 

a better way to block the protea-

some. Now that they know the 

mechanism in detail, all that 

remains is to alter it to create 

proteasome inhibitors targeted 

at the sick cells. 

  http://portal.mytum.de/

welcome/

Engraved 

memories

Why do some events remain 

forever engraved in our memory, 

while others quickly disappear? 

Everything depends on the 

ability of our brain to convert 

new sensory impressions into 

lasting memories. The first step 

of this process is to store the 

memories for a few hours only, 

thanks to an alteration in neural 

transmission which induces 

a series of chemical changes in 

the synaptic connections. But how 

do these recent memories then 

become permanently anchored 

in the cerebral cortex? 

By managing to switch on and off 

the ability to form lasting memo-

ries in genetically manipulated 

mice, researchers at the Karolinska 

Institutet (SE), in collaboration 

with the National Institute on 

Drug Abuse (NIDA) in the U.S., 

have highlighted the role of the 

nogo receptor 1 (NgR1) molecule. 

It would appear that the gene 

responsible for this molecule 

needs to be deactivated before 

long-term memories can be 

formed. Indeed, when researchers 

inserted an NgR1 gene that 

remained active even if the 

mouse’s original NgR1 gene was 

switched off, the rodent had great 

difficulty in converting immediate 

memories into lasting ones. 

This discovery is worth noting as 

a possible avenue for new treat-

ments for memory impairment.