Neuroscience Research Techniques......very interesting

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute have found a group of proteins that are key to the formation of long-term memory in fruit flies. The scientists focused in on the Wnt proteins, which are involved in embryonic development and normal brain functioning. Previous work in fruit flies showed the proteins were essential to olfactory memory, which made the researchers decide to test its role in long-term memory. When they inactivated three of the Wnt proteins in the signaling pathway, the flies had difficulty with long-term, but not short-term, memory. This shows that the effects of disrupting Wnt had specific effects on long-term memory, rather than more generalized effects on behavior.

Read more: http://bit.ly/1eIzdQ2
Journal article: Wnt Signaling Is Required for Long-Term Memory Formation. Cell Reports, 2013. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2013.08.007
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