Two studies discussed a new technique used by researchers to understand how the brain makes memories.
Researchers at the Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine developed a mouse model in which molecules which play an important role in creating memories were "tagged" with fluorescent markers, enabling the researchers to observe them while travelling though the brain.
The study of neurons have always been challenging for the researchers due to their sensitivity to disruptions.
"It's noteworthy that we were able to develop this mouse without having to use an artificial gene or other interventions that might have disrupted neurons and called our findings into question," said senior author of both papers and professor and co-chair of Einstein's department of anatomy & structural biology, Robert Singer, Ph.D., in a press release.
In the research discussed in the papers, the researchers use the neurons found in the mouse's hippocampus, the area where memories are supposed to be created and stored. After that, they observed as the beta-actin messenger RNA (mRNA) which was tagged with fluorescent markers; make their way through the brain's dendrites, which serve as the neuron's projections. The researchers noted that the mRNA is controlled though a process of "masking" and "unmasking", allowing the beta-actin protein to be activated in specific places and times and in certain amounts.
The first paper focused on the work of Dr. Hye Yoon Park, an instructor at Einstein. Dr. Park's research was used to develop the fluorescent beta-actin mRNA. The second paper, on the other hand, is the work of graduate student Adina Buxbaum and this research concluded that the neurons may have a unique control mechanism for each cell that influences the synthesis of the beta-actin protein.
"Having a long, attenuated structure means that neurons face a logistical problem," stated Dr. Singer in a press release. "Their beta-actin mRNA molecules must travel throughout the cell, but neurons need to control their mRNA so that it makes beta-actin
