Binding visual features into coherent object representations is essential both in short- and long-term memory. However, the relationship between feature binding processes at different memory delays remains unexplored. Here, we addressed this question by using the Mnemonic Similarity Task and a delayed-estimation working memory task on a large…

Structures in the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex, are known to be essential for the formation of long-term memory. Recent animal and human studies have investigated whether perirhinal cortex might also be important for visual perception. In our study, using a simultaneous oddity discrimination task, rats with…

Some memories about events can persist for decades, even a lifetime. However, recent memories incorporate rich sensory information, including knowledge on the spatial and temporal ordering of event features, while old memories typically lack this "filmic" quality. We suggest that this apparent change in the nature of memories may reflect a…

The activation of cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB)-dependent gene expression is thought to be critical for the formation of different types of long-term memory. To explore the consequences of chronic enhancement of CREB function on spatial memory in mammals, we examined spatial navigation in bitransgenic mice that express in a…

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of extracellularly acting proteolytic enzymes with well-recognized roles in plasticity and remodeling of synaptic circuits during brain development and following brain injury. However, it is now becoming increasingly apparent that MMPs also function in normal, nonpathological synaptic plasticity of the…

Extensive research has shown that the hippocampus is necessary for consolidation of long-term spatial memory in rodents. We reported previously that rats using a place strategy to solve a cross maze task showed sustained phosphorylation of hippocampus cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB), a transcription factor implicated in…

Information storage in the brain is a temporally graded process involving different memory phases as well as different structures in the mammalian brain. Cortical plasticity seems to be essential to store stable long-term memories, although little information is available at the moment regarding molecular and cellular events supporting memory…