Fatty acids play key role in creating memories: Study

Researchers at the University of Queensland have shown that saturated fatty acids play an important function in the brain’s memory retention. Dr Isaac Akefe of the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland has done research that suggests a novel therapy for neurodegenerative disorder He has also found the genes involved in memory formation. The findings were published in the EMBO Journal. We’ve shown previously that levels of saturated fatty acids increase in the brain during neuronal communication, but we didn’t know what was causing these changes,” Dr Akefe said. “Now for the first time, we’ve identified alterations in the brain’s fatty acid landscape when the neurons encode a memory. “An enzyme called Phospholipase A1 (PLA1) interacts with another protein at the synapse called STXBP1 to form saturated fatty acids.”