Computational model offers insight into mechanisms of drug-
coated balloons. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- MIT neuroscientists have
discovered a new brain mechanism controlling the formation of
lasting memories. This mechanism explains how signals between
neurons stimulate production of the protein building blocks
needed for long-term memory storage. The study, which will
appear in the Feb. 6 issue of the journal Cell, has broad
implications for our understanding of how learning and memory
normally occur, and how these abilities may be undermined in
psychiatric and neurologic diseases. Long-lasting memories are
stored in the brain through strengthening of the connections, or
synapses, between neurons. Researchers have known for many years
that neurons must turn on the synthesis of new proteins for
long-term memory storage and synaptic strengthening to occur,
but the mechanisms by which neurons accomplish these tasks have
remained elusive. The MIT research team, led by Nobel laureate
Susumu Tonegawa, director of the Pico