Cognitive boost to brain connections

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe By sensitizing the process by which neurons normally alter the strength of their connections, a molecule derived from a neuronal protein

improves learning and memory in rats. José Esteban at the Autonomous University of Madrid and his colleagues studied the effects of the molecule, FGL, on rats and on slices of the rat

hippocampus, a brain region involved in learning and memory. They showed that FGL caused persistent activation of signalling molecules in hippocampal neurons. This set in motion a chain of

molecular events that increased the efficiency with which a type of receptor called AMPA was inserted into neuronal connections, or synapses. The incorporation of additional AMPA receptors

into synapses is known to improve synaptic plasticity. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this

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support RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Cognitive boost to brain connections. _Nature_ 483, 9 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/483009c

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