Abstract

It has been demonstrated that interleukin-1 beta (IL-1), which is known to play a role in coordinating the physiological and behavioural changes that take place during illness, has a major impact on memory consolidation.We provide neurobiological evidence to back up this claim, showing that there are substrates for IL-1 to affect memory function and brain plasticity. Then, we provide behavioural proof that central IL-1 administration and substances that stimulate central IL-1 activity hinder the consolidation of memories that depend on the development of the hippocampus formation but have no impact on the consolidation of memories that are hippocampal-independent.Furthermore, we show that blocking the effects of IL-1 prevents the defects in hippocampal-dependent memory consolidation caused by drugs that stimulate IL-1 activity. We examine these findings’ implications for a physiological role in the final section.