This special volume of Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science provides a current overview of how memory is processed in the brain. A broad range of topics are presented by leaders in the field, ranging from brain circuitry to synaptic plasticity to the molecular machinery that contributes to the brain's ability to maintain information across time. Memory systems in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala are considered as well. In addition, the volume covers recent contributions to our understanding of memory from in vivo imaging, optogenetic, electrophysiological, biochemical and molecular biological studies.
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Articles from world renowned experts in memory
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Covering topics from signaling, epigenetic, RNA translation to plasticity
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Methodological approaches include molecular and cellular, behavioral, electrophysiological, optogenetic and functional imaging
Memory is central to our conceptualization of who we are as individuals.
Memories of our childhood, of our experiences, and of our accomplishments
are, for all intents and purposes, our identity. Memory allows us to
place ourselves in the context of a family and society, and without a memory
of our past, we could not effectively navigate our present nor plan for our
future. Modern society places increased demands on memory as people are
now called upon to have more information memorized than in centuries
past. Furthermore, modern hygiene and health care have dramatically
lengthened life expectancy over the past century, resulting in an increase
in the number of people with memory impairment. Thus, there is a pressing
and increasing need to identify strategies to optimize and preserve memory
function.