Memory engrams: Recalling the past and imagining the future
Name
Submitted Version_aaw4325_CombinedPDF_v1.pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
6.85 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
aabaacfaf45b93e01993c73c2fd4810c
Author(s)
Josselyn, Sheena A.
Tonegawa, Susumu
Date Issued
January 2020
Journal
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Citation
Josselyn, Sheena A. and Susumu Tonegawa. "Memory engrams: Recalling the past and imagining the future." Science 367, 6473 (January 2020): eaaw4325 © 2019 The Authors
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
In 1904, Richard Semon introduced the term “engram” to describe the neural substrate for storing memories. An experience, Semon proposed, activates a subset of cells that undergo off-line, persistent chemical and/or physical changes to become an engram. Subsequent reactivation of this engram induces memory retrieval. Although Semon’s contributions were largely ignored in his lifetime, new technologies that allow researchers to image and manipulate the brain at the level of individual neurons has reinvigorated engram research. We review recent progress in studying engrams, including an evaluation of evidence for the existence of engrams, the importance of intrinsic excitability and synaptic plasticity in engrams, and the lifetime of an engram. Together, these findings are beginning to define an engram as the basic unit of memory.
MIT Department
RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw4325
