Modulating AMPA receptors makes memories special

In current models of learning and memory, the brain stores information by remodeling synapses, specifically by changing the numbers of AMPA glutamate receptors at postsynaptic densities. Different brain regions lay down memories differently, though, and AMPA receptors are distributed throughout the brain, so there must be another component of the system providing specificity. On page 805, Tomita et al. address this long-standing problem by defining a family of four differentially expressed transmembrane proteins that regulate AMPA receptors in all types of neurons.

Previously, the authors showed that AMPA receptors in the cerebellum are regulated by a transmembrane protein called stargazin, which is mutated in a strain of epileptic mice, but it was unclear whether this was a general mechanism or restricted to the cerebellum. The new study shows that stargazin and three...