Making Your Mind: Molecules, Motion, and Memory

Lecture 4 – Memories Are Made of This

by Eric R. Kandel, MD

  1.  1.  Start of Lecture 4
  2.  2.  Welcome by Grants Program Director Dr. Dennis Liu
  3.  3.  Profile of Dr. Eric Kandel
  4.  4.  Review of the systems problem of memory
  5.  5.  Comparing implicit and explicit memory for molecular analysis
  6.  6.  Selecting a model to study the molecular basis of memory
  7.  7.  Demonstration: Meet a live Aplysia californica
  8.  8.  Aplysia's simple nervous system makes experiments easier
  9.  9.  Aplysia's gill-withdrawal reflex shows learning
  10. 10.  Sensitization: A form of learned fear
  11. 11.  Video: Aplysia's gill withdrawal reflex and sensitization
  12. 12.  Aplysia long-term memory depends on protein synthesis
  13. 13.  The neural circuit controlling gill withdrawal
  14. 14.  Temporary changes to the circuit vs. anatomical changes
  15. 15.  Simplifying the learning circuit in a culture dish
  16. 16.  Animation: Molecular activity in Aplysia short-term memory
  17. 17.  Animation: Molecular activity in Aplysia long-term memory
  18. 18.  Gene expression, long-term memory, and autism
  19. 19.  Synaptic growth from learning in Aplysia and humans
  20. 20.  Q&A: Are new connections added only to existing partners?
  21. 21.  Q&A: Do neurons vary in the ability to create new connections?
  22. 22.  Spatial learning and explicit memory storage in mice
  23. 23.  Video: Mice navigate a Barnes maze to test spatial learning
  24. 24.  Hippocampal circuits involved with explicit memory
  25. 25.  Long-Term Potentiation (LTP): A form of hippocampal memory
  26. 26.  Animation: Molecular basis of early LTP (short-term memory)
  27. 27.  Animation: Molecular details of late LTP (long-term memory)
  28. 28.  PKA-deficient mutant mice have a reduction in late LTP
  29. 29.  The PKA-mutant mice perform poorly in the Barnes maze
  30. 30.  Summary of the contribution of molecular analysis to memory
  31. 31.  Aging, memory loss, and Alzheimer disease
  32. 32.  The Alzheimer associated Aβ peptide is toxic to neurons
  33. 33.  Aβ protein shuts down PKA activation
  34. 34.  Lowering cAMP breakdown activates PKA, reverses synapse loss
  35. 35.  Alzheimer mice increase synaptic connections after Rolipram
  36. 36.  Summary
  37. 37.  Q&A: Is serotonin being used to enhance memory?
  38. 38.  Q&A: How does Aβ spread throughout the brain?
  39. 39.  Q&A: What accounts for varying memory abilities?
  40. 40.  Q&A: Can repetition improve social interactions in autism?
  41. 41.  Closing remarks by HHMI President Dr. Thomas Cech


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