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Nature 390, 552-553 (11 December 1997) | doi:10.1038/37472

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Learning and memory:  Never fear, LTP is hear

Robert C. Malenka1 & Roger A. Nicoll1

Synaptic transmission is the main mechanism by which neurons communicate, and an attractive hypothesis is that learning occurs, and memories are encoded, by activity-dependent changes in synaptic strength. With the discovery of hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), and the ability to study its mechanisms in experimentally accessible in vitro preparations, neurobiologists seemed to be on the verge of solving one of the more fascinating problems in neurobiology — the molecular basis for memory.

  1. Robert C. Malenka and Roger A. Nicoll are in the Departments of Psychiatry and Physiology, and the Departments of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, and Physiology, respectively, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA.