Researchers provide first evidence for learning mechanism: "'We show what everyone has always believed: LTP (long-term potentiation) is indeed induced in the hippocampus when learning occurs,' said Mark F. Bear, Picower Professor of Neuroscience. 'This is a big deal for neuroscientists because such evidence has been absent for the 30-plus years we have known about LTP.'

The findings described in the Bear paper and in a second, separate paper in the same issue of Science 'substantially advance the case for LTP as a neural mechanism for memory,' wrote Tim Bliss of the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in the UK, Graham Collingridge of the University of Bristol, and Serge Laroche of the Universite Paris Sud in a commentary on the work."

Comment: the genes and proteins involved in learning identified - look for strong 'learning enhancement' compounds to emerge.