4.02 – Molecular Studies of Learning and Memory in Aplysia and the Hippocampus: A Comparative Analysis of Implicit and Explicit Memory Storage

Recent studies of implicit and explicit memory suggest that modulation of synaptic strength and structure is a fundamental mechanism by which these memories are encoded, processed, and stored within the brain. Two model systems have been extensively studied as examples of these two forms of memory: sensitization in the marine snail Aplysia californica as an example of implicit memory, and spatial memory formation in rodents as an example of explicit memory. In this review, we discuss and compare critical synaptic sites and the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term memory and consider how the conservation of common elements in each form may contribute to the different temporal phases of both implicit and explicit memory storage.