| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,290,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥990,000)
Fiscal Year 2011: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2010: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2009: ¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Memory formed after spaced training, repeated training with rest intervals between each training, is more stable than memory formed after massed training, repeated training without rest intervals. This "spacing effect" on memory was reported more than 100 yrs ago. However, it is still not clear why rest intervals strengthen memory. In Drosophila, spaced training produces CREB-dependent long-term memory(LTM) whereas, massed training suppresses LTM. Therefore, we examined spacing effect on expressions of CREB and c-fos, an upstream transcription factor of CREB. We found significant increase in expressions of CREB and c-fos during spaced training but not massed training. Transcriptional activity of c-fos is activated by ERK, which is activated by MEK-dependent phosphorylation. We also found significant increase in phosphorylation of ERK during spaced training. Interestingly, however, ERK phosphorylation was increased during each rest intervals and decreased during each training period. MEK inhibitors exclusively impaired LTM formation. These results suggest that rest intervals of spaced training is required for activation of ERK.
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