Enzyme revives long-term memories
Boosting levels in the brain helps rats remember old times
In “Memory,” a song from the musical Cats, an aging feline invites old memories to live again. Now, that power may be in the hands of the cat’s worst enemy — the rat.
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Increased levels of one natural brain enzyme supercharge rat memories, a study suggests. And it’s not just new, short-term memories. The enzyme — called PKM-zeta — gives rats better recall of old remembrances, too, a U.S.-Israeli team reports in the March 5 Science.