Scott J. Turner M atthew Kayser '00 came to Brown four years ago expecting to study pre-med. Captivated by Professor Mark Bear in Neuroscience 1, Kayser eventually joined Bear's lab, spending four semesters and two summers studying the mechanism of protein synthesis around nerve cells. For Kayser, hooking up with Bear, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, was the right move at the right time. The team of Kayser, Bear and postdoctoral researcher Kim Huber, the study leader, produced a string of data to suggest a novel mechanism existed behind the decrease in strength of synapses in the brain. Synaptic weakening is thought to be a key process in memory creation and storage.
Synapses are the connections between neurons, or nerve cells.
K ayser's work on the project comprised his honors thesis. The bulk of that thesis appeared in an article in the prestigious journal Science on May 18. The article described the machinery at the synapse for the synthesis of new proteins that depress synaptic strength. Although synapses have the machinery to make proteins, there was no evidence that this machinery can function to change synapses, Kayser said. This synaptic chemical activity is an efficient way for the brain to make new proteins and change existing ones rapidly, she said.