Mike Garelick
Mentor: Dan StormBox: 357270
Phone: 206-543-3347
Email: garelick@u.washington.edu
http://depts.washington.edu/phcol/faculty/storm.php
Mike Garelick is studying how in humans, as well as in mice, the ability to store and retrieve memories declines with age. Evidence from several labs suggests that increasing cAMP levels in the brain can enhance memory performance. To test this, the Storm lab previously generated a mouse overexpressing type I adenylyl cyclase (AC1) (Nat Neurosci. 2004 7(6): 635-42). Young adult mice exhibited enhanced long term memory performance on the novel object recognition task, a task that tests hippocampus-dependent memory. Mike's project was to test AC1 overexpressing mice to see if the transgene attenuated age-related memory decline. They have found a surprising result that overexpression of this enzyme did not improve memory in aged mice and even impaired spatial learning. This result suggests that tight regulation of cAMP signaling is required for memory formation, and that manipulations in cAMP signaling that benefit memory in young mice can have detrimental effects on the memory of aged mice.
Another focus of Garelick's graduate work has been looking at how signaling transduction pathways are used by hippocampal neurons to support different phases of memory. Specifically, some of the same signaling pathways used to store a memory support the retrieval of the memory as well. A previous project identifed PI3K and ERK/MAPK signaling as crucial for memory retrieval. To extend these results, Mike is currently working on a project to identify and compare the populations of neurons that activate these pathways during memory formation with the populations of neurons that activate during memory retrieval.
Publications
Garelick, MG, Chan, GC, and Storm DR. (2008) Age Dependent Spatial Memory Deficit in Mice Overexpressing Type I Adenylyl Cyclase Submitted
Chen X, Garelick MG, Wang H, Athos J, Li V, and Storm DR. (2005) PI3 kinase signaling is required for retrieval of contextual memory. Nature Neuroscience 8(7):925-932. (Co-primary author)
Commentary
Garelick MG and Storm DR. The relationship between memory retrieval and memory extinction. PNAS 102(26): 9091-9092.