Common Molecules in Memory Formation and Congenital Intellectual Disability: a Role for the RAS-ERK-CREB Pathway in Cognition

In my PhD thesis, I described the role that several molecules within the signalling cascade that activates the transcription factor CREB (cAMP Response Element Binding protein) play in long-term memory formation. In humans and mice, mutations in the genes encoding for several proteins within such molecular cascade result in learning and memory deficits. Awarded an Extraordinary Doctorate Award.

Hunting for Synaptic Tagging and Capture in Memory Formation

A short review of some of the neural plasticity mechanisms that underlie memory formation and, in particular, those molecular processes that allow for a restricted set of synapses within the neuron to be selected and ‘tagged’ to undergo the modifications that sustain long-term memory of specific stimuli and experiences. Published in the prestigious ‘Journal of Neuroscience’.