August 17, 2018
Keio University School of Medicine
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Electro-Communications
A research group led by Professor Michisuke Yuzaki and Associate Professor Wataru Kakegawa of the Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, and Associate Professor Shinji Matsuda of the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Electro-Communications, has developed a new technology to artificially control the number of glutamate receptors, which transmit information at synapses, the junctions between nerve cells, using light irradiation. Using this technology, they found that transiently blocking the decrease in the number of glutamate receptors at synapses in the cerebellum (long-term depression) impaired motor learning in mice. This demonstrates that long-term depression in the cerebellum is the molecular basis that supports motor learning. It is expected that the application of this technology will also lead to the elucidation of memory and learning functions in other brain regions.
The results of this research were published in the online early edition of the American scientific journal "Neuron" on August 16, 2018 (U.S. Eastern Time).
Please see below for the full press release.