Anesthesia Resistant Memories in Drosophila, a Working Perspective

Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jul 31;23(15):8527. doi: 10.3390/ijms23158527.

Abstract

Memories are lasting representations over time of associations between stimuli or events. In general, the relatively slow consolidation of memories requires protein synthesis with a known exception being the so-called Anesthesia Resistant Memory (ARM) in Drosophila. This protein synthesis-independent memory type survives amnestic shocks after a short, sensitive window post training, and can also emerge after repeated cycles of training in a negatively reinforced olfactory conditioning task, without rest between cycles (massed conditioning-MC). We discussed operational and molecular mechanisms that mediate ARM and differentiate it from protein synthesis-dependent long-term memory (LTM) in Drosophila. Based on the notion that ARM is unlikely to specifically characterize Drosophila, we examined protein synthesis and MC-elicited memories in other species and based on intraspecies shared molecular components and proposed potential relationships of ARM with established memory types in Drosophila and vertebrates.

Keywords: Drosophila; anesthesia resistant memory; aversive memories; cold shock; massed conditioning; memory.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Anesthesia*
  • Animals
  • Drosophila / metabolism
  • Drosophila Proteins* / genetics
  • Drosophila Proteins* / metabolism
  • Drosophila melanogaster / metabolism
  • Memory
  • Memory, Long-Term

Substances

  • Drosophila Proteins

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.