Some studies of memory in China

The study of memory trace is one of the most interesting subjects in the area of physiopsychology. In the early part of this century the Russian physiologist Pavlov and the American psychologist Leshley had a long interchange about the localization of the memory trace. In the last 20 years research in this area has been facilitated by the development of new techniques that have enabled current investigators to take new approaches to memory studies. The study of memory has attracted more and more attention and has also become a subject of common interest to physiologists, biochemists, pharmacologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists. At the end of the 1970&#39;s Chinese researchers started to study memory, and have been conducting experimental neuropsychology. This chapter discusses the neural basis of memory and biochemical events mediating the formation of memory, and then covers lateralization of hemisphere advantage and memory, the role of the hippocampus in learning and memory, and the relation of neurotransmitters to memory processes.</span

Huperzine A reverses scopolamine- and muscimol-induced memory deficits in chick

AIM: To study the effects of huperzine A on disruption of spatial memory induced by scopolamine (a muscarinic antagonist) and muscimol (a GABA(A) agonist) in passive avoidance task. METHODS: One-trial passive avoidance task was used to investigate the effects of huperzine A. The avoidance rate was used to evaluate memory retention. RESULTS: Both scopolamine (100 ng)and muscimol (50 ng), injected intracranially 5 min before training, resulted in a decreased avoidance rate. Huperzine A (25 ng), injected intracranially 15 min before training, reversed memory deficits induced by scopolamine and muscimol at 30 min after training, and this reversal persisted at least 1 h. The improving effects of huperzine A exhibited a bell-shaped dose-response curve. CONCLUSION: Huperzine A improved the process of memory formation not only by acting as a highly potent and selective inhibitor of AChE, but also by antagonizing effects mediated through the GABA(A) receptor

Neural cell adhesion molecules and memory.

Synaptic plasticity is involved in the process of memory formation. It's proved that neural cell adhesion molecules play an important role both in promoting synaptic plasticity and keeping the synaptic stability. Many evidences have been showed that neural cell adhesion molecules can regulate some process in association with learning and memory

Reversed effects of RU486 and anisomycin on memory retention of light exposure or corticosterone facilitation in the dark-incubated chicks

Memory formation for a weak passive avoidance task in the dark-incubated chicks is facilitated by light exposure or corticosterone administration at optimally pre-hatch time points. To explore the potential mechanisms underlying activation of brain memory function development by light or corticosterone exposure during late embryo, steroid receptor antagonist RU486, or protein synthetic inhibitor anisomycin, was administered intraembryonically to the embryos of either only 24-h light-exposure or complete dark-hatched on embryonic day 20 (E20). The results showed that RU486 and anisomycin significantly retarded the facilitated retention both by light and corticosterone exposure in the dark-incubated chicks. They also suggest that the act of corticosterone or light exposure on the development of brain memory function is mediated by the effect of steroid receptor, or afterward on related protein syntheses that is involved in memory formation of post-hatched performance of day-old chicks.Memory formation for a weak passive avoidance task in the dark-incubated chicks is facilitated by light exposure or corticosterone administration at optimally pre-hatch time points. To explore the potential mechanisms underlying activation of brain memory function development by light or corticosterone exposure during late embryo, steroid receptor antagonist RU486, or protein synthetic inhibitor anisomycin, was administered intraembryonically to the embryos of either only 24-h light-exposure or complete dark-hatched on embryonic day 20 (E20). The results showed that RU486 and anisomycin significantly retarded the facilitated retention both by light and corticosterone exposure in the dark-incubated chicks. They also suggest that the act of corticosterone or light exposure on the development of brain memory function is mediated by the effect of steroid receptor, or afterward on related protein syntheses that is involved in memory formation of post-hatched performance of day-old chicks

EFFECTS OF ANISODINE ON MEMORY

&lt;正&gt; Anisodine(AT_3)is a new alkaloid isolatedfrom Scopolia tangutica,Anisodus tanguticus,a plant of Solauaeeae family,collected fromMt.Tanggute.AT_3 has anticholinergic property.The influences of AT_3 on memory behavior,hip-pocampal electrical activity and acetylcholinecontent in animals were studied.The evalua-tion of memory deficits was based on the fol-lowing:(1)percentage of conditioned passiveavoidance reaction(CAR),(2)mean responsetime,(3)mean ability to perform correctly 5successive times in 10 trials,(4)mean numberof trials to correctly perform 9 out of 10 trials.It was found that AT_3 influences unconsolidatedmemory(three day training period)more thanconsolided memory(six day training period).It was also observed that the nmemonia effectsof AT_3 was associated with ECoG changes andcholinergic reduction in hippocampus.The majorfindings arising from studies of hippocampalelectrical activity in orienting experiments isthat hippocampal electrical response decreasedafter AT_3 injection.These findings suggestedthat the chronic administration of AT_3 raises thepossibility of impairing the ability of patients,particularly elderly ones,to learn new materialand to store,or acquire new information intolong-term memory