Summary: Researchers know that new information first arrives at the hippocampus. There, the brain decides to forget it or store it for later. It may send key information to higher brain centers for long-term storage. For this step, long-term potential or LTP, created by cofilin, seems to play a big role. To prove this, researchers injected mice with viruses that carried special substances to the brain. This substance could be switched on to release ROS and shut down cofilin. That blocked memory consolidation. So they could better understand memory consolidation, which may help treat memory loss in the future.
Dementia and Alzheimer’s keep rising. So there is a growing need to learn how the brain works and stores memories.
Memory loss is one of the early signs of Alzheimer’s. People with Alzheimer’s struggle to remember things over time. They also start to lose memories they stored long ago1.
It may all start with forgetting important dates. But as the disease grows worse, a person may struggle to know the faces of close friends and even their own children.
Preventing Alzheimer’s is the best plan. But some people will need treatment to reverse memory loss. Such treatments can only be built once science knows exactly how long-term memories are made. For people facing memory problems tied to chronic conditions, chronic pain specialists can play a key role with whole-person care and ways to manage it.
When an important paper arrives at the office or at home, we look it over. Then we put it in a safe place to find later. The brain works the same way.
When key information reaches the brain, it is reviewed at the hippocampus. From there it is sent to higher brain centers for storage. This process of storing information for later use is called memory consolidation.
Studies show that a nerve activity called long-term potentiation or LTP plays a key role in memory consolidation once the brain decides to keep something for the long term.
Recently, researchers in Japan ran an experiment to test this idea and see memory consolidation at the molecular level. They found that a protein called cofilin plays a key role in memory consolidation and in moving memories to higher brain centers. So blocking or switching on this protein (cofilin) may change how long-term memories are stored.
Knowing is one thing, but science has to prove it. So researchers in Japan injected mice with carrier viruses. The viruses carried substances that can release reactive oxygen species (ROS) in one part of the brain and shut down cofilin. But the chemical released ROS only when the mice were hit with a strong flash of light, a lot like in the film Men in Black2.
By shutting down cofilin, they could block LTP, all with a flash of light. This showed how much cofilin matters, and even more, how much LTP matters in storing memories. Once LTP was blocked, the lab mice failed to remember earlier events, mainly those from the past 24 hours.
By switching off memory consolidation, they learned several things. They saw how long-term memories are stored. They saw what may break down during memory loss in some diseases. This may help find new treatments for disorders like Alzheimer’s and even schizophrenia.
Of course, it is very early. Still, science is moving forward. Brain science is one of the hardest subjects there is. It is hard to understand how the most powerful supercomputer, the human brain, works. So each finding is a step toward solving the mystery.
In short, this study showed the exact mechanism behind memory consolidation. Changing it may help weaken or strengthen long-term memory. Next, researchers need to find out how to boost memory consolidation in people with major brain damage.
Frequently asked questions
How does memory consolidation work?
New information arrives first at the hippocampus, which decides whether to forget it or keep it. Information worth keeping is sent on to higher brain centers for long-term storage, much like filing an important paper in a safe place. Once the brain decides to store something, a nerve activity called long-term potentiation (LTP) locks it in. A protein called cofilin drives that step.
What part of the brain consolidates memories?
The hippocampus is the checkpoint. Every piece of key information is reviewed there first. From there it is sent to higher brain centers where long-term memories are kept. Researchers in Japan showed that the protein cofilin plays a key role in this consolidation and in the move to those higher centers.
How long does it take to consolidate a memory?
In the mouse study on this page, researchers used a flash of light to switch off cofilin and block long-term potentiation. The mice then failed to remember earlier events, mainly those from the past 24 hours. That points to the first day after an event as a key window. That is when the brain is still doing the work of storing it.
What does memory consolidation have to do with Alzheimer’s?
Memory loss is one of the early signs of Alzheimer’s. It may start with forgetting important dates. Later, a person may fail to know close friends and even their own children. Treatments that reverse memory loss can only be built once science knows exactly how long-term memories are made. That is why finding the cofilin and LTP mechanism matters.
References
- Jahn H. Memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2013;15(4):445-454.
- Goto A, Bota A, Miya K, et al. Stepwise synaptic plasticity events drive the early phase of memory consolidation. Science. 2021;374(6569):857-863. doi:10.1126/science.abj9195
Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP
