Emotional memory
Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001? Or when the shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986? Heightened emotions cause experiences to crystallize into lasting and vivid memories. This boost in memory formation is due in part to the stress hormone norepinephrine, but scientists haven’t understood how the hormone causes this effect.
Now researchers have uncovered molecular changes triggered by norepinephrine that help nerve cells form new memories.
A team led by Roberto Malinow of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York traced the hormone’s effects to a receptor molecule called glutamate receptor 1 (GluR1) on the surfaces of nerve cells. Through GluR1 and similar receptors, nerve cells can receive signals from their neighbors. Nerves store new memories by increasing the strength of those signals, according to a leading theory.