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Brief Communication

Nature Neuroscience 5, 1119–1120 (1 November 2002) | doi:10.1038/nn951

Hippocampal CRE-mediated gene expression is required for contextual memory formation

Jaime Athos , Soren Impey , Victor V. Pineda , Xi Chen & Daniel R. Storm

One of the molecular events associated with contextual long-term memory (LTM) formation is the induction of cyclic AMP response element (CRE)-mediated transcription. Here we report that activation of NMDA receptors and of extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK) were necessary for stimulation of CRE-mediated transcription during contextual fear conditioning.