How neurotransmitter dopamine form long-term memories!
Pleasure hormone, dopamine, has been implicated in the formation of long term memory but the mechanism of memory lock is not clearly understood.
Synapses involved in the memory storage become stronger during learning process called Long Term Potentiation (LTP) and involves protein production.
The researchers found that dopamine triggers the D1/D5 receptor to activate a signaling pathway which includes the enzymes adenylate cyclase 1/8 (AC1/8), cAMP and protein kinase A leading to the production of more proteins to support the strengthening of the synapse and long-term potentiation.
Meanwhile, glutamate released from the pre-synaptic terminal stimulate proteins on the post-synaptic terminal, such as NMDA receptors, to transmit calcium ions into the neuron which activate AC1/AC8, ensuring that dopamine-induced protein synthesis is paired with neural activation. This increases the production of GluA1, a type of subunit that can assemble to form calcium-permeable AMPA receptors, which is essential for dopamine-induced LTP.
