"In simple terms, we use genetic tools that allow us to inject mice with a drug that artificially makes astrocytes express some other gene or protein of interest when they become active," says Wookbong Kwon, a biotechnologist at Baylor College and co-author of the study. This approach enables researchers to visually track astrocyte activity in response to varied stimuli, significantly advancing the understanding of roles astrocytes play in memory formation.
"It's called fear conditioning, and it's a really simple idea. You take a mouse, put it into a new box, one it's never seen before. While the mouse explores this new box, we just apply a series of electrical shocks through the floor," Williamson explains. This method demonstrates how environmental associations are formed through negative experiences and leads to the investigation of memory retention within the brain.
The tagging system lit up all astrocytes that expressed the c-Fos gene in response to fear conditioning. Williamson's team inferred that this is where the memory is stored in the mouse's brain. This insight bridges the gap between astrocyte activation and memory encoding, emphasizing the importance of these glial cells in cognitive functions.
"Astrocytes are really bushy," Williamson says. They have a complex morphology with lots and lots of micro or nanoscale processes that infiltrate the area surrounding them. A single astrocyte can contact roughly 100,000 synapses, and not all of them will be involved in learning events." This statement illustrates the extensive connectivity of astrocytes, indicating their potential as key players in modulating neural activity during memory formation.
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