New ideas change brain cells

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 56, No. 3, April 2014, Page 141 News

A University of British Columbia study identifies an important molecular change that occurs in the brain when we learn and remember, giving researchers a better understanding of the tools that brains use and providing insight into how the processes become disrupted in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer disease and Huntington disease.

Published in Nature Neuroscience, the research shows that learning stimulates brain cells in a way that causes a small fatty acid to attach to delta-catenin, a protein in the brain. While delta-catenin has previously been linked to learning, this study is the first to describe the protein’s role in the molecular mechanism behind memory formation. The study finds that this biochemical modification is essential in producing the changes in brain cell connectivity associated with learning, and may also provide an explanation for some mental disabilities. More work is needed to fully establish the importance of delta-catenin in building the brain connectivity behind learning and memory.

. New ideas change brain cells. BCMJ, Vol. 56, No. 3, April, 2014, Page(s) 141 - News.



Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

An alternate version of ICMJE style is to additionally list the month an issue number, but since most journals use continuous pagination, the shorter form provides sufficient information to locate the reference. The NLM now lists all authors.

BCMJ standard citation style is a slight modification of the ICMJE/NLM style, as follows:

  • Only the first three authors are listed, followed by "et al."
  • There is no period after the journal name.
  • Page numbers are not abbreviated.


For more information on the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, visit www.icmje.org

BCMJ Guidelines for Authors

Leave a Reply