Research summary
Contributions concern the cellular and molecular basis of learning and memory. Short-term sensitization of the gill and siphon reflex in the marine mollusk Aplysia californica was analysed by combining behavioural, neurophysiological, morphological, biochemical, and genetic methods; direct evidence was provided that cAMP-dependent protein phosphorylation can modulate synaptic action, demonstrating that elementary learning could be approached with cell-biological techniques [3]. A regulated-transgene strategy in mice used a forebrain-specific promoter combined with the tetracycline transactivator to achieve regional and temporal control of expression of a calcium-independent activated form of CaMKII; expression eliminated hippocampal long-term potentiation in response to 10 Hz stimulation and produced a spatial-memory deficit, with suppression of transgene expression reversing both the physiological and behavioural phenotypes [2]. Studies of mice carrying mutations in the non-receptor tyrosine kinases fyn, src, yes, and abl demonstrated that fyn (but not src, yes, or abl) is required for LTP induction and maintenance and that fyn mutants show parallel impairment in spatial learning, with normal paired-pulse facilitation and post-tetanic potentiation, supporting a functional link between LTP and hippocampus-dependent memory [4]. A 2001 review synthesized this framework, articulating that learning and memory are accessible to cellular and molecular analysis and that gene-expression changes at synapses underlie both short- and long-term memory storage in invertebrates and mammals [1]. Methodologically the work moves from invertebrate-circuit-level reductionism in Aplysia to conditional and constitutive mouse genetics paired with hippocampal electrophysiology and behavioural assays of spatial learning.
Recent publications
- The Molecular Biology of Memory Storage: A Dialogue Between Genes and SynapsesDOI
- Control of Memory Formation Through Regulated Expression of a CaMKII TransgeneDOI
- Molecular Biology of Learning: Modulation of Transmitter ReleaseDOI
- Resolving Emotional Conflict: A Role for the Rostral Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Modulating Activity in the AmygdalaDOI
- Subregion- and Cell Type鈥揜estricted Gene Knockout in Mouse BrainDOI
- Genetic Demonstration of a Role for PKA in the Late Phase of LTP and in Hippocampus-Based Long-Term MemoryDOI
- Recombinant BDNF Rescues Deficits in Basal Synaptic Transmission and Hippocampal LTP in BDNF Knockout MiceDOI
- Impaired Long-Term Potentiation, Spatial Learning, and Hippocampal Development in fyn Mutant MiceDOI
- The Molecular and Systems Biology of MemoryDOI
- The long and the short of long鈥搕erm memory鈥攁 molecular frameworkDOI
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Email Eric R. Kandel 6-12 months before your application deadline. Read several recent papers and reference specific work in your message. Use our how to email a Japanese professor guide for the proven email structure.
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External profiles
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7851-6902
- OpenAlex: openalex.org
Profile compiled from public sources (Researchmap, OpenAlex, Kyushu University faculty directory). Last refreshed 2026-05. Report incorrect information.