Time-keeping brain protein influences memory
Signaling factor that sets time in the brain also required for normal
memory in fruit flies

Date:
October 26, 2020
Source:
Society for Neuroscience
Summary:
Upsetting the brain's timekeeping can cause cognitive impairments,
like when jetlag makes you feel foggy and forgetful. These
impairments may stem from disrupting a protein that aligns
the brain's time-keeping mechanism to the correct time of day,
according to new research in fruit flies.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Upsetting the brain's timekeeping can cause cognitive impairments,
like when jetlag makes you feel foggy and forgetful. These impairments
may stem from disrupting a protein that aligns the brain's time-keeping mechanism to the correct time of day, according to new research in fruit
flies published in JNeurosci.


==========================================================================
The brain contains 'clock' neurons that mold circadian behaviors and link
them to cues from the environment, like light and seasonal changes. In
fruit flies, the clock releases the peptide Pigment-dispersing factor
(PDF) to synchronize the activity of the clock neurons and drive
time-based behaviors like mating and sleep. PDF may also underlie memory formation, explaining the cognitive dysfunction that occurs when the
clock is desynchronized from the environment.

Flyer-Adams et al. tested how well fruit flies with a functioning core
clock but lacking the PDF output signal could learn. Flies without
PDF had severely impaired memory . However, memory regulation by PDF
likely occurs without direct signaling to the main memory structure of
flies. These results suggest that PDF from the clock may promote normal
memory throughout the day by acting as a timestamp to learning. The VIP
pathway in humans may play a similar role.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Society_for_Neuroscience. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Johanna G. Flyer-Adams, Emmanuel J. Rivera-Rodriguez, Junwei Yu,
Jacob D.

Mardovin, Martha L. Reed, Leslie C. Griffith. Regulation of
olfactory associative memory by the circadian clock output signal
Pigment- dispersing factor (PDF). The Journal of Neuroscience,
2020; JN-RM-0782-20 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0782-20.2020 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201026135742.htm

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