Neurophysiological and molecular approaches to understanding the mechanisms of learning and memory

ABSTRACT

One of the most fundamental features of the mammalian brain is its ability to encode, store and retrieve a large amount of information. The neurobiology of this ability has been studied for decades, and many brain areas and mechanisms have now been linked to the storage of a broad range of memory types. Even though there are still ongoing uncertainties about where and how memories are stored, one cellular mechanism that has been implicated consistently is long-term potentiation (LTP). Here, we summarise briefly the current state of knowledge and the links between hippocampal LTP and memory. In the course of this discussion, we will also review the electrophysiological, biochemical and molecular tools used in our lab and others to study the cellular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity as induced using in vivo, in vitro and behavioural approaches. We also discuss the evidence of impaired synaptic plasticity as a core feature of Alzheimer’s disease and some of the novel therapeutic interventions being tested in our lab.

KEYWORDS:

• Synaptic plasticity
• metaplasticity
• hippocampus
• long-term potentiation
• Alzheimer’s disease
• animal models

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Dr Owen Jones and Kayla Benjamin for the LTD data. Biorender (https://biorender.com/) was used for the making of Figure 3.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The writing of this review and some of the work described was supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand Grant 16-597 and Grant 18-245, and by a New Zealand International Doctoral Research Scholarship from Education New Zealand.