required reading:
Müller U (1996) Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Synthase Impairs a Distinct Form of Long-Term Memory in the Honeybee, Apis mellifera. Neuron 16, 541–549.
pdf-file

questions:
1) How does NO get produced by a cell?
2) What does the honeybee data suggest about the timing of S/MTM formation as related to NO/NOS activity? What does the honeybee data suggest about the timing of LTM formation as related to NO/NOS activity? How large or small does it appear this window of time must be given the effects of the NOS inhibitors?
2) If NO/NOS are vital to the formation of LTM, in which regions of the brain must important associative learning events take place? Is the data related to this finding definitive, or could other areas be involved?
3) The author suggests a possible mechanism for effect - does that seem reasonable considering the time course of LTM formation and the maintenance of memory based on conditioning?

PDF-file of power point lecture (about 1.7 MB)

background reading:
general:
Alberini CM (1999) Genes to remember. J exp Biol 202:2889-2891. pdf-file
Roman G, Davis RL (2001) Molecular biology and anatomy of Drosophila olfactory associative learning. Bioessays 23:571-581. pdf-file
Imprey S, Obrietan K, Storm DR (1999) Making new connections: role of ERK/MAP kinase signaling in neuronal plasticity pdf-file
Kandel ER (2001 ) The Molecular Biology of Memory Storage: A Dialogue Between Genes and Synapses. Science 294: 1030-1038. pdf-file
specific to the paper:
Müller U, Hildebrandt H (2002) Nitric Oxide/cGMP-Mediated Protein Kinase A Activation in the Antennal Lobes Plays an Important Role in Appetitive Reflex Habituation in the Honeybee. J Neurosci 22(19):8739–8747. pdf-file
Davies SA (2000). Nitric oxide signalling in insects. Insect Biochem Molecular Biol 30: 1123–1138. pdf-file
Bicker (2001) Sources and targets of nitric oxide signalling in insect nervous systems.Cell Tissue Res 303:137–146. pdf-file

Links:
MAP Kinases in Drosophila
Kandel's Nobel Prize Lecture about Learning and Memory
Uli Müller's Homepage
The Nitric Oxide Homepage