Reijmers Leon G, Perkins Brian L, Matsuo Naoki, Mayford Mark
Department of Cell Biology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Science. 2007 Aug 31;317(5842):1230-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1143839.
Do learning and retrieval of a memory activate the same neurons? Does the number of reactivated neurons correlate with memory strength? We developed a transgenic mouse that enables the long-lasting genetic tagging of c-fos-active neurons. We found neurons in the basolateral amygdala that are activated during Pavlovian fear conditioning and are reactivated during memory retrieval. The number of reactivated neurons correlated positively with the behavioral expression of the fear memory, indicating a stable neural correlate of associative memory. The ability to manipulate these neurons genetically should allow a more precise dissection of the molecular mechanisms of memory encoding within a distributed neuronal network.
记忆的学习和提取会激活相同的神经元吗？重新激活的神经元数量与记忆强度相关吗？我们培育了一种转基因小鼠，它能够对c-fos激活的神经元进行长期的基因标记。我们发现，基底外侧杏仁核中的神经元在巴甫洛夫式恐惧条件反射过程中被激活，并在记忆提取过程中重新被激活。重新激活的神经元数量与恐惧记忆的行为表现呈正相关，表明关联记忆存在稳定的神经关联。通过基因操作这些神经元的能力，应该能够更精确地剖析分布式神经元网络中记忆编码的分子机制。
