Indeed, CREB’s opposing regulatory actions provide a threshold for memory storage, presumably to ensure that only important, life-serving experiences are learned. Repeated shocks to the tail are a significant learning experience for an Aplysia, just as, say, practicing the piano or conjugating French verbs are to us: practice makes perfect, repetition is necessary for long-term memory. In principle, however, a highly emotional state, such as that brought about by a car crash, could bypass the normal restraints on long-term memory. In such a situation, enough MAP kinase molecules would be sent
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