Neuroscience
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Recent studies using genomic and functional approaches in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster have revealed the effects of viral infection on nervous system homeostasis. An established connection between viral infection and brain function is critical due to its significant contribution to several areas of biomedical research, particularly the molecular pathogenesis of neurotropic viruses, the neurobiology of viral disease, and understanding the genetic basis and pathophysiology of viral tropism.
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A possible role for the brain β-endorphin system in memory modulation was proposed by Ivan Izquierdo more than 30 years ago. Along with pharmacologic evidence of the effects of morphine and naloxone administered immediately after training in avoidance tasks and with the demonstration of medial-basal hypothalamus β-endorphin release after novelty detection, it was hypothesized that an endogenous opioid state present in the labile period of consolidation will be part of the memory of the newly acquired information. ⋯ In this review some of the original papers in the subject are revisited. Recent studies on the memory beneficial effects of novelty, both in animal models and in humans, indicate this is line of investigation is worth of pursuing and demonstrate the importance of the seminal work of Ivan Izquierdo in the field of memory modulation.