Nature Neuroscience
2, 309 - 310 (1999)
doi:10.1038/7217
A molecular correlate of memory and amnesia in the hippocampusStephen M. Taubenfeld1, Kjesten A. Wiig2, Mark F. Bear2
& Cristina M. Alberini11
Department of Neuroscience, Brown University,
Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA
2
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brown University,
Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA
Correspondence should be addressed to Cristina M. Alberini calberini@brown.eduMemory consolidation in humans and other species is profoundly disrupted
by lesions of either the medial temporal lobes or regions of the thalamus1,
2,
3. It has been proposed that these structures regulate the neuronal
gene expression necessary for long-term memory4. Evidence suggests
that long-term memory formation requires the activity of members of the cAMP
response element (CRE) binding protein (CREB) transcription factor family5,
6, and that CRE-regulated genes are expressed in the hippocampus
in response to inhibitory avoidance training7,
8. Here we show
that lesions of the fornix, a massive fiber bundle connecting the hippocampus
with the septum and hypothalamus, specifically disrupt both consolidation
of inhibitory avoidance memory and CREB-mediated responses in the hippocampus.
We propose that inputs passing through the fornix regulate this memory consolidation
by regulating CREB-mediated gene expression in hippocampal neurons.
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