Behavioral tagging; a translation of the synaptic tagging and capture hypothesis.

MONCADA D; BALLARINI F; VIOLA H

Neural Plasticity

Hindawi

Año: 2015

Neurons possess a molecular machinery that put into operation when receive a stimulation. Similar receptor types and signaling cascades are activated following an electrical stimulus that induce long-term synaptic changes or after learning sessions that trigger the consolidation of long-term memories.  To achieve perdurability of these processes it is required protein synthesis for the reinforcement of the changes induced in the network. In this respect, the synaptic tagging and capture theory, postulated by Frey and Morris in 1997, provides a strong framework to explain how to reach synaptic specificity and persistence of electrophysiological-induced plasticity changes. Ten years later, the behavioral tagging hypothesis (BT) made use of the same argument, applying it to learning and memory models. BT explains how weak events, only capable of inducing transient forms of memories, can result in lasting memories when occurring in the context of other behaviorally relevant experiences. The hypothesis postulates that the formation of lasting memories relies on at least two parallel processes: the setting of a learning tag and the synthesis of plasticity-related proteins, which once captured at tagged sites allow the consolidation of a memory for long periods of time. In this review, we detail the findings supporting the existence of BT process in rodents and humans. We focus on the molecular machinery taking place in this process, and described the experimental data supporting that BT may underlay the mechanisms leading to memory persistence and memory interference. By now, BT hypothesis represents a wide framework able to explain promotion, modulation, and interference in the formation of lasting memories.