Describe the three main ways in which memories can change.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The three ways in which memories can change are extinction, forgetting, and reconsolidation. Extinction involves new learning of the association (or lack of association) between two events, stimuli, or behavior. It is considered new learning rather than forgetting because during extinction, there is activation of NMDA receptors, much like what happens during LTP. Blocking of the NMDA receptors prevents extinction from occurring.
Forgetting involves the brain actively removing useless information to prevent saturation of synapses with information that is not called upon regularly or has not made connections with other stored memories. One way in which the brain accomplishes this is via the enzyme protein phosphatase 1 (PP1). In a mouse model, the activated PP1 gene caused mice to forget a task they had learned 6 weeks prior compared to controls. The gene Drac1 (V12) produces a protein (Rac) that causes memory to decay after learning.
Reconsolidation occurs when information from memory is brought to mind. When this happens, the memory is vulnerable to change. The upside of this is that previously learned information can be corrected or refined. The downside is that it can lead to the development of false memories.