Molecular and Cellular Cognition: The Unraveling of Memory Retrieval

While the study of molecular and cellular cognition has begun to elucidate the mechanisms of acquisition, consolidation, and storage of memories, the understanding of retrieval has lagged behind. In this issue of Cell, Murchison et al. (2004...) use molecular genetic approaches combined with pharmacology to demonstrate that (beta)-adrenergic receptor function regulates retrieval of certain forms of memory.