Enhancement of Consolidated Long-Term Memory by Overexpression of Protein Kinase Mζ in the Neocortex

Memories are more easily disrupted than improved. Many agents can impair memories during encoding and consolidation. In contrast, the armamentarium of potential memory enhancers is so far rather modest. Moreover, the effect of the latter appears to be limited to enhancing new memories during encoding and the initial period of cellular consolidation, which can last from a few minutes to hours after learning. Here, we report that overexpression in the rat neocortex of the protein kinase C isozyme protein kinase M zeta (PKM zeta) enhances long-term memory, whereas a dominant negative PKM zeta disrupts memory, even long after memory has been formed.