Updates on Memory Modulation in Health and Disease

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Background

One of the most intriguing questions in the memory field is what distinguishes memories that will survive the passage of time and mark our lives from others that are immediately lost. In this regard, understanding factors that can modulate the strength of memory is a fundamental question that remains a hot topic. In particular, memories are susceptible to near-learning experiences that influence their strength or that can interfere with them. A series of neuromodulators, as well as behavioral interventions, were studied due to their potential contribution to regulate memory storage and retrieval mechanisms. Deficits in memory storage and retrieval have a significant effect on the quality of life. In fact, these affections are commonly observed in different neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases and nowadays are used as markers for their clinical detection and progression. In the last few years, a huge effort has been made to elucidate the neurobiological and cognitive mechanisms underlying memory modulation in normal and pathological conditions. Thanks to these efforts, some pharmacological and non-invasive interventions have been developed in the hope of enhancing learning and memory processes in both human and non-human animal models and alleviating the symptoms of these diseases.

A comprehensive understanding of the endogenous (neuromodulators, cellular and molecular mechanisms, micro and macro circuits) and exogenous (stimuli characteristics and environment) variables that require memory to be formed and recalled is critical to defining therapeutic targets. In this regard, most of the basic research in the field has been performed in non-human models or in post-mortem brain tissue. For this reason, translational research has been instrumental in the progress of identifying therapeutic interventions and using them for the design of valid therapies. However, the behavioral readout of that research cannot be directly extrapolated to humans. Enormous efforts were done in the last decades to test these different approaches that range from non-invasive brain stimulation to pharmacological tools that target different neurotransmitter systems. The goal of the present Research Topic is to highlight the latest findings of basic and translational research in memory. Particularly, this Topic will focus on articles that address memory modulation (formation, enhancement, or impairment) through a variety of disciplines and methods (pharmacology, optogenetics, behavioral interventions, among others) and in different models.

This Research Topic welcomes reviews, mini-reviews, original research articles, opinions, or perspectives from human subjects, animal models, and cellular models that focus on basic and translational neuroscience and seek to increase our understanding of neuromodulatory systems and their potentiality to improve memory, with an ultimate goal of contributing to the treatment of memory loss or maladaptive memory-related disorders.

• Memory enhancement or impairment mediated by chemical neuromodulators such as neurotransmitters, hormones, neurotrophins, etc.

• Cellular, molecular, and behavioral studies exploring the role of memory processing in the etiology of neuropsychiatric diseases.

• Pharmacological treatments for mnemonic symptoms of neuropsychiatric diseases.

• Behavioral/Environmental interventions for memory modulation.

• Contribution of internal state and body homeostasis to the modulation of memory systems.

• Stress-related effects on learning and memory.

• Development of neuromodulatory systems and age-related changes over these systems.

Keywords: Memory, Acquisition, Consolidation, Retrieval, Reconsolidation, Extinction, Memory enhancement, Memory impairment

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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