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Chemical Basis of Memory: Approaches Using Molar and Smaller Systems
Author(s) -
Barondes Samuel H.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
israel journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.908
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1869-5868
pISSN - 0021-2148
DOI - 10.1002/ijch.197500056
Subject(s) - neuroscience , chemistry , synapse , neurotransmission , organism , function (biology) , transmission (telecommunications) , memory formation , central nervous system , mechanism (biology) , biological system , computer science , hippocampus , psychology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , receptor , paleontology , telecommunications , philosophy , epistemology
Contemporary assumptions about memory storage in the nervous system are that: (1) it is the expression of a change in the efficacy of synaptic transmission in specific pathways in the central nervous system that mediate the behavior that is remembered; (2) this change is the expression of a biochemical change in the neurons in question. The purpose of this brief paper is to: (1) define the nature of the problems of memory storage in more specific terms based on our knowledge of synaptic transmission and general biochemical regulatory processes; (2) describe two approaches to this problem that will ultimately contribute to its understanding in biochemical terms: (a) a molar approach in which the assay of memory is the behavior of an organism and in which certain types of biochemical and pharmacological studies can point to underlying biochemical mechanisms; (b) an approach using smaller systems in which direct physiological, pharmacological and biochemical measurements can be made of the factors regulating changes in the efficacy of synaptic transmission as a function of repetitive stimulation of a specific synapse.