Biochemistry of Memory

The study of the biochemistry of memory is another exciting scientific enterprise, but one that can only be touched upon here. Scientists estimate that an adult human brain contains about 100 billion neurons. Each of these is connected to hundreds or thousands of other neurons, forming trillions of neural connections. Neurons communicate by chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. An electrical signal travels along the neuron, triggering the release of neurotransmitters at the synapse, the small gap between neurons. The neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and act on the next neuron by binding with protein molecules called receptors. Most scientists believe that memories are somehow stored among the brain’s trillions of synapses, rather than in the neurons themselves.

Scientists who study the biochemistry of learning and memory often focus on the marine snail Aplysia because its simple nervous system allows them to study the effects of various stimuli on specific synapses. A change in the snail’s behavior due to learning can be correlated with a change at the level of the synapse. One exciting scientific frontier is discovering the changes in neurotransmitters that occur at the level of the synapse.

Other researchers have implicated glucose (a sugar) and insulin (a hormone secreted by the pancreas) as important to learning and memory. Humans and other animals given these substances show an improved capacity to learn and remember. Typically, when animals or humans ingest glucose, the pancreas responds by increasing insulin production, so it is difficult to determine which substance contributes to improved performance. Some studies in humans that have systematically varied the amount of glucose and insulin in the blood have shown that insulin may be the more important of the two substances for learning.

Scientists also have examined the influence of genes on learning and memory. In one study, scientists bred strains of mice with extra copies of a gene that helps build a protein called N-methyl-D-aspartate, or NMDA. This protein acts as a receptor for certain neurotransmitters. The genetically altered mice outperformed normal mice on a variety of tests of learning and memory. In addition, other studies have found that chemically blocking NMDA receptors impairs learning in laboratory rats. Future discoveries from genetic and biochemical studies may lead to treatments for memory deficits from Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions that affect memory.