How Do Our Memories Last a Lifetime? New Study Offers a Biological Explanation
Whether it’s a first-time visit to a zoo or when we learned to ride a bicycle, we have memories from our childhoods kept well into adult years. But what explains how these memories last nearly an entire lifetime? A new study in the journal Science Advances, conducted by a team of international researchers, has uncovered a biological explanation for long-term memories. It centers on the discovery of the role of a molecule, KIBRA, that serves as a “glue” to other molecules, thereby solidifying memory formation. “Previous efforts to understand how molecules store long-term memory focused on the individual actions of single molecules,” explains AndrĆ© Fenton, a professor of neural science at New York University and one of the study’s principal investigators. “Our study shows how they work together to ensure perpetual memory storage.” “A firmer understanding of how we keep our memories will help guide efforts to illuminate and address memory-related afflictions in the future,” adds Todd Sac...