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Synthesizing Memory. Learning and memory. Learning is the strengthening of existing responses or formation of new responses to existing stimuli that occurs because of practice or repetition. Memory has to do with keeping “knowledge” someplace and then retrieving it when it is needed. CREB.
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Learning and memory Learning is the strengthening of existing responses or formation of new responses to existing stimuli that occurs because of practice or repetition. Memory has to do with keeping “knowledge” someplace and then retrieving it when it is needed.
CREB • Test whether CREB-mediated positive feedback plays a central role in learning and memory in C. elegans. Diagram modified from Caroline M. Ajo-Franklin, David A. Drubin, Julian A. Eskin, Elaine P.S. Gee, Dirk Landgraf, Ira Phillips and Pamela A. Silver. Genes & Dev. 2007 21: 2271-2276
How to assess learning and memory in C. elegans? As part of an experiment to assess learning and memory in C. elegans roundworms, the image on the left shows worms that have not yet been trained to associate food with a drop of the chemical butanone that has been placed on the right side of the Petri dish. After training, the worms in the image on the right can be seen clustering around butanone that has been added. By testing normal worms as well as worms with genetic mutations that increase lifespan, the researchers were able to explore how factors that extend longevity affect learning and memory. (Credit: Coleen Murphy lab)
CREB Strategy
Modeling • Pam Silver cooperativity and bistability
Learning and memory assay Positive associative olfactory learning and memory assays: Well-fed worms are starved, then fed in the presence of 10% butanone; testing immediately after a single (massed) training measures learning, and short-term associative memory (STAM) is measured after an interval without exposure to butanone. Long-term associative memory (LTAM) is measured after several intervals of (spaced) training. Figure from Amanda L. Kauffman1,2, Jasmine M. Ashraf1,2, M. Ryan Corces-Zimmerman1,2, Jessica N. Landis1,2, Coleen T. Murphy1,2*. 2010, PLOS Biology
Predicted outcomes • Engage undergraduates in multidisciplinary research • Have fun • Check if creb-mediated positive feedback correlates with learning and memory. • Investigate which neurons in a network mediate this phenomenon