Role of MicroRNA Genes miR-1000 and miR-375 in Forming Olfactory Conditional Memory in Drosophila melanogaster

MicroRNA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 09 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadniman Rahman ◽  
Chaity Modak ◽  
Mousumi Akter ◽  
Mohammad Shamimul Alam

Background: Learning and memory is basic aspects in neurogenetics as most of the neurological disorders start with dementia or memory loss. Several genes associated with memory formation have been discovered. MicroRNA genes miR-1000 and miR-375 were reported to be associated with neural integration and glucose homeostasis in some insects and vertebrates. However, neuronal function of these genes is yet to be established in D. melanogaster. Objective: Possible role of miR-1000 and miR-375 in learning and memory formation in this fly has been explored in the present study. Methods: Both appetitive and aversive olfactory conditional learning were tested in the miR-1000 and miR-375 knockout (KO) strains and compared with wild one. Five days old third instar larvae were trained by allowing them to be associated with an odor with reward (fructose) or punishment (salt). Then, the larvae were tested to calculate their preferences to the odor trained with. Learning index (LI) values and larval locomotion speed were calculated for all strains. Results: No significant difference was observed for larval locomotion speed in mutant strains. Knockout strain of miR-1000 showed significant deficiency in both appetitive and aversive memory formation whereas miR-375 KO strain showed a significantly lower response only in appetitive one. Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate important role played by these two genes in forming short-term memory in D. melanogaster.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (20) ◽  
pp. 7447
Author(s):  
Amanda M. Leonetti ◽  
Ming Yin Chu ◽  
Fiona O. Ramnaraign ◽  
Samuel Holm ◽  
Brandon J. Walters

Investigation into the role of methylation of the adenosine base (m6A) of RNA has only recently begun, but it quickly became apparent that m6A is able to control and fine-tune many aspects of mRNA, from splicing to translation. The ability of m6A to regulate translation distally, away from traditional sites near the nucleus, quickly caught the eye of neuroscientists because of implications for selective protein translation at synapses. Work in the brain has demonstrated how m6A is functionally required for many neuronal functions, but two in particular are covered at length here: The role of m6A in 1) neuron development; and 2) memory formation. The purpose of this review is not to cover all data about m6A in the brain. Instead, this review will focus on connecting mechanisms of m6A function in neuron development, with m6A’s known function in memory formation. We will introduce the concept of “translational priming” and discuss how current data fit into this model, then speculate how m6A-mediated translational priming during memory consolidation can regulate learning and memory locally at the synapse.


1995 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Kaczmarek

Recent advances in application of molecular biology to studies on learning and memory formation suggest that understanding of these seemingly elusive phenomena may be within our reach. This mini-review summarizes the present knowledge on activation and possible functions of transcription factors in learning processes with a focus on studies performed in the author's laboratory.


2000 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail N. Zhadin

The absence of a clear influence of the responses modified by new connections created by LTP on the development of these connections casts doubt on an essential role of LTP in learning and memory formation without any association with reinforcement. The evidence for the involvement of the monoaminergic systems in synaptic potentiation in the cerebral cortex during learning is adduced, and their role in reinforcement system function is discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isis Gil-Miravet ◽  
Aroa Mañas-Ojeda ◽  
Francisco Ros-Bernal ◽  
Esther Castillo-Gómez ◽  
Hector Albert-Gascó ◽  
...  

Telencephalic cognitive and emotional circuits/functions are strongly modulated by subcortical inputs. The main focus of past research on the nature of this modulation has been on the widespread monoamine projections to the telencephalon. However, the nucleus incertus (NI) of the pontine tegmentum provides a strong GABAergic and peptidergic innervation of the hippocampus, basal forebrain, amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and related regions; and represents a parallel source of ascending modulation of cognitive and emotional domains. NI GABAergic neurons express multiple peptides, including neuromedin-B, cholecystokinin, and relaxin-3, and receptors for stress and arousal transmitters, including corticotrophin-releasing factor and orexins/hypocretins. A functional relationship exists between NI neurons and their associated peptides, relaxin-3 and neuromedin-B, and hippocampal theta rhythm, which in turn, has a key role in the acquisition and extinction of declarative and emotional memories. Furthermore, RXFP3, the cognate receptor for relaxin-3, is a Gi/o protein-coupled receptor, and its activation inhibits the cellular accumulation of cAMP and induces phosphorylation of ERK, processes associated with memory formation in the hippocampus and amygdala. Therefore, this review summarizes the role of NI transmitter systems in relaying stress- and arousal-related signals to the higher neural circuits and processes associated with memory formation and retrieval.


2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-371 ◽  

Dynamic regulation of chromatin structure in postmitotic neurons plays an important role in learning and memory. Methylation of cytosine nucleotides has historically been considered the strongest and least modifiable of epigenetic marks. Accumulating recent data suggest that rapid and dynamic methylation and demethylation of specific genes in the brain may play a fundamental role in learning, memory formation, and behavioral plasticity. The current review focuses on the emergence of data that support the role of DNA methylation and demethylation, and its molecular mediators in memory formation.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lane Yoder

AbstractThe networks proposed here show how neurons can be connected to form flip-flops, the basic building blocks in sequential logic systems. Two novel neural flip-flops (NFFs) are composed of two and four neurons. Their operation depends only on minimal neuron capabilities of excitation and inhibition. The NFFs can generate known phenomena of short-term memory. Memory tests have shown that certain neurons fire continuously at a high frequency while information is held in short-term memory. These neurons exhibit seven characteristics associated with memory formation, retention, retrieval, termination, and errors. One of the neurons in each of the NFFs produces all of the characteristics. This neuron and a second neighboring neuron together predict eight unknown phenomena. These predictions can be tested by the same methods that led to the discovery of the first seven phenomena.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Bolocan ◽  
Claudia I. Iacob ◽  
Eugen Avram

We aimed to investigate the working memory (WM) and language separate contributions to verbal learning and memory in patients with unilateral drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (drTLE); additionally, we explored the mediating role of WM on the relationship between the number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and short-term verbal memory. We retrospectively enrolled 70 patients with left (LTLE; n = 44) and right (RTLE; n = 26) drTLE. About 40 similar (age and education) healthy controls were used to determine impairments of groups at WM, language (naming and verbal fluency), and verbal learning and memory (five trials list-learning, story memory—immediate recall). To disentangle the effect of learning from the short-term memory, we separately analyzed performances at the first trial, last trial, and delayed-recall list-learning measures, in addition to the total learning capacity (the sum of the five trials). Correlation and regression analyses were used to assess the contribution of potential predictors while controlling for main clinical and demographic variables, and ascertain the mediating role of WM. All patients were impaired at WM and story memory, whereas only LTLE showed language and verbal learning deficits. In RTLE, language was the unique predictor for the most verbal learning performances, whereas WM predicted the results at story memory. In LTLE, WM was the sole predictor for short-term verbal learning (list-learning capacity; trial 1) and mediated the interaction between AED number and the performance at these measures, whereas language predicted the delayed-recall. Finally, WM confounded the performance at short-term memory in both groups, although at different measures. WM is impaired in drTLE and contributes to verbal memory and learning deficits in addition to language, mediating the relationship between AED number and short-term verbal memory in LTLE. Clinicians should consider this overlap when interpreting poor performance at verbal learning and memory in drTLE.


2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 2593-2602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berta Sunyer ◽  
Weifei Diao ◽  
Gert Lubec

2006 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothea Eisenhardt

AbstractThe honeybee (Apis mellifera) is a model organism for the study of learning and memory formation and its underlying mechanisms. Honeybees have a rich behaviour that can be studied in the field as well as in the laboratory. In the latter case, olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension response (PER) has been intensively studied with respect to the neuronal and molecular mechanisms underlying acquisition and memory formation. Quite a lot is known about the neuronal pathways of both the unconditioned and the conditioned stimulus, and molecular mechanisms that lead to memory formation have been identified. In particular, the role of the cAMP-protein kinase A pathway in memory formation has been analysed. Present knowledge about the molecular basis of memory formation is outlined here. The role of the cAMP-dependent signalling cascade in memory formation is summarised and the activation of this pathway by non-associative and associative learning is discussed.


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