Work

Persistent Increases of PKMζ in Sensorimotor Cortex Maintain Procedural Long-Term Memory Storage

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Procedural motor learning and memory are accompanied by changes in synaptic plasticity, neural dynamics, and synaptogenesis. Missing is information on the spatiotemporal dynamics of the molecular machinery maintaining these changes. Here we examine whether persistent increases in PKMζ, an atypical protein kinase C (PKC) isoform, store long-term memory for a reaching task in rat sensorimotor cortex that could reveal the sites of procedural memory storage. Specifically, perturbing PKMζ synthesis (via antisense oligodeoxynucleotides) and blocking atypical PKC activity (via zeta inhibitory peptide [ZIP]) in S1/M1 disrupts and erases long-term motor memory maintenance, indicating atypical PKCs and specifically PKMζ store consolidated long-term procedural memories. Immunostaining reveals that PKMζ increases in S1/M1 layers II/III and V as performance improved to an asymptote. After storage for 1 month without reinforcement, the increase in M1 layer V persists without decrement. Thus, the persistent increases in PKMζ that store long-term procedural memory are localized to the descending output layer of the primary motor cortex.

Source: iScience

DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2018.07.002

Authors: Peng Penny Gao, Jeffrey H. Goodman, Todd Charlton Sacktor, Joseph Thachil Francis

Institutions: State University of New York, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, University of Houston

Language: English

Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,240