Research Overview
Memory is, in many ways, what makes us human…. Each of us has the genetic makeup that creates a framework for a species capable of thought and learning. We also are gifted with genetic differences that when combined with environment and experience create a unique human being. It is that complex interaction of genetics, environment, and experience and the resulting storage of memory that provides us with the ability to explore, interpret, and analyze what we know as “life”.
Memory may appear to be a single process, but, in reality, it is far more complex. The acquisition, formation, and storage of memories are a collection of processes, made up of several components that may differ for different types of memories.
Human memory is associative. Associations are the connections that are formed between the pieces of information occurring repeatedly in our experience. These may be faces connected with names, names connected with places, or numbers connected with times of our lives. Information that becomes associated in memory can also provide details within an image, such as the features connected to a familiar face.
During learning and the formation of memories the human brain undergoes physical and chemical changes. BRNI researchers and scientists around the world are still working to decipher the fine details of the chemical and molecular processes by which memories are formed and stored, but much is already known. Through a process called synaptic plasticity, signal transmission at existing connections between certain neurons (synapses) may become more efficient, some connections may be silent, or new synapses may be formed. Synaptic transmission is a very complex event, but that complexity provides opportunities for therapeutic intervention when neuronal function is affected by disease or aging. Synaptic communication involves many individual elements such as receptors, ligands, ion channels, ions, neurotransmitters, synthetic and metabolic enzymes, and regulatory proteins. Each of these represents a potential avenue of treatment for problems developed in neurological disease.
At the Institute, our primary research focuses on the molecular pathways of memory- - identification and understanding of those molecular events responsible for the changes of synaptic connections that store the associations learned from experience. BRNI scientists have followed these molecular pathways to points of convergence with other molecular pathways important for cognitive function, such as attention, as well as cognitive dysfunction, such as Alzheimer's disease.
Based on the discoveries of this fundamental neuroscience research, the Institute has developed additional programs that refine and further expand scientific understanding of the processes of memory.
These programs include:
Target Identification & Drug Discovery — identifies targets and develops potential treatments for cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's Disease, attention-deficit disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression.
Diagnostics Development — critical to identifying Alzheimer's disease in its earliest stages, when treatments would be most effective.
Brain Science Technology — provides new and necessary technologies to enhance our discovery programs.
Memory & Neurological Disorder Modeling — aids in the formation of psychotherapeutic strategies and pharmacotherapeutic targets.
Division of Memory and Memory Disorders (Base Program)
Alkon DL, Nelson T, Zhao W, Cavallaro S: Time domains of neuronal calcium signaling and associative memory: steps through a calexcitin, ryanodine receptor, K+ channel cascade. Trends in Neuroscience 21:529-537, 1998.