DNMT inhibitors block memory formation and/or consolidation and disrupt well-consolidated memory, implicating DNA methylation in memory processes¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Inhibitors of DNA methyltransferase block the formation and/or consolidation of memory in mammals and invertebrates, and studies in rats and Aplysia found DNMT inhibitors disrupt well-consolidated memory. → Wickliffe C. Abraham 2019

Evidence¶

Wickliffe C. Abraham 2019¶

Wickliffe C. Abraham, Owen D. Jones and David L. Glanzman. (2019). Is plasticity of synapses the mechanism of long-term memory storage? npj Science of Learning 4:9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-019-0048-y

q2 · i? · review · r3

Narrative review summarizing cited mammalian and invertebrate studies. The review reports extensive DNA methylation changes for hippocampal-dependent fear conditioning, with some methylation patterns occurring weeks after training and apparently associated with long-term memory maintenance.

"These studies have shown that inhibitors of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) block the formation and/or consolidation of memory"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Transfer of memory via RNA injection in Aplysia—trained donor RNA enhanced the siphon-withdrawal reflex in untrained recipients—offers the strongest challenge to date to the synaptic plasticity hypothesis — related
• Memories can persist and be reinstated in the absence of learning-induced synaptic alterations, supporting cell-intrinsic storage — related
• Retrograde intervention experiments—reversing LTP or depotentiating learning-strengthened synapses—cause memory loss, lending strong support to the synaptic plasticity and memory hypothesis — related
• Gene-specific DNA methylation and histone modification are associated with memory formation, as the review reports from Sweatt and colleagues' studies — related