Biochemical consequences of imprinting
This chapter examines biological aspects of imprinting. Several forms of learning involve a response to or the association of a response with a particular experience. In such ‘incremental’ forms of learning, the neural change associated with information storage is the strengthening of synaptic linkages between neurons. This hypothesis implies an increase in protein synthesis in the regions of the brain where information is stored. Studies of imprinting in the domestic chick have shown that exposure to a visually conspicuous object is associated with increased incorporation of a radioactive amino acid into protein, and of radioactive uracil into RNA.
Keywords: information storage, brain, synaptic linkage, RNA, protein metabolism
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