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In the 1970s I was conducting research on the molecular processes that take place when memories are laid down in the brain. I was blockimg memory formation in young, domestic chicks ('Gallus gallus') by treating their brains with drugs known to inhibit specific cellular processes thought to be essential for memory formation. One of these drugs was the inhibitor of protein synthesis, cycloheximide, chosen because long-term memory is thought to depend on nerve cells making new proteins. I discovered that cycloheximide does block long-term memory but that is not all it does. It also causes long-lasting impairment of further learning that depends on both long- and short-term memory. |
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