Growth Factors Help Build Recollections.

• Position: MEMORY - Brief article

Neuroscientists have determined how a pair of growth-factor molecules contributes to long-term memory formation. "This gives us a better understanding of memory's architecture and, specifically, how molecules act as a network in creating long-term memories," explains Thomas Carew, professor in New York University's Center for Neural Science and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science. "More importantly, this marks another step toward elucidating the intricacies of memory function, which is vital in the development of cognitive therapies to address related afflictions."

The importance of growth factor (GF) molecules long has been known. They are critical in building brains beginning in utero and until adulthood. Moreover, over time, it has been established that GFs are "recycled" from brain builders to engineers of long-term memories. Less clear, however, is how the wide range of GF families, as well as different members within each family, act to help us create these memories.

In working to address this question, the NYU research...