The Principle of Memory Consolidation and Its Pharmacological Modulation

Abstract

Memory consolidation describes time-dependent processes that transfer physiological substrates of newly acquired information into rather permanently stable states. Specific neurobehavioral paradigms have been developed to study the substrates of such endogenous processes, and in psychopharmacological research, the ‘post-trial’ approach provides a powerful tool to manipulate memory processes during presumptive consolidation phases. This approach will be presented, emphasizing its behavioral details and major pharmacological findings. Finally, an example will be given which shows that cholinergic processes in the nucleus accumbens may play a role during memory consolidation.