The Genetic Bases Of Learning And Memory - 927 Words

This paper seeks to exploit and explain findings that express the genetic bases of learning and memory. Learning and memory has played a huge evolutionary advantage to animals capable of effectively gathering information of their environment and able to remember and retrieve the information at a different time. The studies covered focused on drosophila because its cognitive functions are very similar to that of higher vertebrates such as humans. The central theme of this paper is to determine the biological bases of learning and memory by observing how disruption of the central nervous system through gene mutations alters the performance of learning and memory thus affecting the organism behavioral responses. A lot of research has been conducted in twin studies seeking to explain why there is a variation in learning abilities between two people of very similar genetic matter. The results of the studies have credited the environment as the major source of the variance but yet not much have been uncovered about how individuals’ genes contribute in playing a role in learning and memory consolidation until recently. Kaminskaya and colleagues knew that actin cytoskeleton remodeling was crucial for learning but they didn’t know what genes led to the remodeling and how that process would eventually affect learning abilities. Lim-Kinase 1 (LIMK1) gene leads to the phosphorylation of CREB 1 which in turn activates genes linked with memory consolidation such as somatostatin.Show MoreRelatedEssay about Huntingtons Disease1557 Words   |  7 PagesHuntington’s Disease is a brain disorder affecting movement, cognition, and emotions (Schoenstadt). It is a genetic disorder genera lly affecting people in their middle 30s and 40s (Sheth). Worldwide, Huntington’s disease (affects between 3-7 per 100,000 people of European ancestry (Schoenstadt). 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