Transgenerational Rescue of a Genetic Defect in Long-Term Potentiation and Memory Formation by Juvenile Enrichment Export

@article{citeulike:4025981, abstract = {The idea that qualities acquired from experience can be transmitted to future offspring has long been considered incompatible with current understanding of genetics. However, the recent documentation of non-Mendelian transgenerational inheritance makes such a "Lamarckian"-like phenomenon more plausible. Here, we demonstrate that exposure of 15-d-old mice to 2 weeks of an enriched environment (EE), that includes exposure to novel objects, elevated social interactions and voluntary exercise, enhances long-term potentiation (LTP) not only in these enriched mice but also in their future offspring through early adolescence, even if the offspring never experience EE. In both generations, LTP induction is augmented by a newly appearing cAMP/p38 MAP kinase-dependent signaling cascade. Strikingly, defective LTP and contextual fear conditioning memory normally associated with ras-grf knock-out mice are both masked in the offspring of enriched mutant parents. The transgenerational transmission of this effect occurs from the enriched mother to her offspring during embryogenesis. If a similar phenomenon occurs in humans, the effectiveness of one's memory during adolescence, particularly in those with defective cell signaling mechanisms that control memory, can be influenced by environmental stimulation experienced by one's mother during her youth. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5057-08.2009}, author = {Arai, Junko A. and Li, Shaomin and Hartley, Dean M. and Feig, Larry A.}, citeulike-article-id = {4025981}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5057-08.2009}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/5/1496.abstract}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/5/1496.full.pdf}, citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/abstract/29/5/1496}, citeulike-linkout-4 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19193896}, citeulike-linkout-5 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=19193896}, day = {4}, doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5057-08.2009}, issn = {1529-2401}, journal = {J. Neurosci.}, keywords = {100209, enriched\_environment, genetics, synaptic\_plasticity}, month = {February}, number = {5}, pages = {1496--1502}, posted-at = {2009-02-09 19:25:36}, priority = {2}, title = {Transgenerational Rescue of a Genetic Defect in Long-Term Potentiation and Memory Formation by Juvenile Enrichment}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5057-08.2009}, volume = {29}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:4025981 L3 - citeulike-article-id:4025981 N2 - The idea that qualities acquired from experience can be transmitted to future offspring has long been considered incompatible with current understanding of genetics. However, the recent documentation of non-Mendelian transgenerational inheritance makes such a "Lamarckian"-like phenomenon more plausible. Here, we demonstrate that exposure of 15-d-old mice to 2 weeks of an enriched environment (EE), that includes exposure to novel objects, elevated social interactions and voluntary exercise, enhances long-term potentiation (LTP) not only in these enriched mice but also in their future offspring through early adolescence, even if the offspring never experience EE. In both generations, LTP induction is augmented by a newly appearing cAMP/p38 MAP kinase-dependent signaling cascade. Strikingly, defective LTP and contextual fear conditioning memory normally associated with ras-grf knock-out mice are both masked in the offspring of enriched mutant parents. The transgenerational transmission of this effect occurs from the enriched mother to her offspring during embryogenesis. If a similar phenomenon occurs in humans, the effectiveness of one's memory during adolescence, particularly in those with defective cell signaling mechanisms that control memory, can be influenced by environmental stimulation experienced by one's mother during her youth. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5057-08.2009 IS - 5 JF - J. Neurosci. SN - 1529-2401 EP - 1502 TI - Transgenerational Rescue of a Genetic Defect in Long-Term Potentiation and Memory Formation by Juvenile Enrichment VL - 29 SP - 1496 KW - 100209 KW - enriched_environment KW - genetics KW - synaptic_plasticity AU - Arai, Junko AU - Li, Shaomin AU - Hartley, Dean AU - Feig, Larry PY - 2009/02/04/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5057-08.2009 ER -