Selectively Reactivating Nerve Cells to Retrieve a Memory

The illustration shows the part of a mouse's hippocampus that is activated while learning a new task. The neurons that encode the specific memory of this task are shown in green. Ana M.M. Oliveira - Selectively increasing the levels of a certain protein in nerve cells that play a key role in memory storage boosts memory performance, as demonstrated in experiments on mice by a group of scientists at Heidelberg University led by Dr Ana Oliveira. The responsible protein is Dnmt3a2 - a so-called epigenetic factor that chemically modifies the genome and thus influences memory processes. By increasing the levels of Dnmt3a2, the researchers from the Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences were able to modulate the reactivation of the relevant neurons, quite precisely in fact. Over the course of life, a multitude of memories are stored. It is currently thought that each memory has its individual representation in the brain, coded by neurons that are active when new information is acquired.