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The Na+/Ca2+ exchanger 1 (NCX1), which is highly expressed in the hippocampus, cortex, and amygdala, regulates Akt1 phosphorylation. Since Akt1 is part of the PTEN/Akt1/CREB signaling pathway, which participates in synaptic plasticity and long-term memory, we investigated whether NCX1 expression/activity might also be involved in some hippocampal-dependent learning and memory processes. To test this hypothesis, we used two genetically-modified mice to selectively overexpress (NCX1.4over) or downregulate (NCX1ko) NCX1 in hippocampal, cortical, and amygdala neurons and a newly synthesized selective NCX1 stimulating compound, named CN-PYB2. Both NCX1.4over and CN-PYB2-treated mice showed increased phosphorylated CaMKII levels in the hippocampus and improved long-term spatial learning and memory performance. By contrast, NCX1ko mice displayed a decrease in both. In addition, both NCX1.4over and CN-PYB2-treated mice also displayed an increase in context-dependent anxiety. Altogether, these results demonstrate that neuronal NCX1 participates in hippocampal-amygdala memory consolidation and promote anxiety behavior.

Due to the economic crisis in Italy during the nineties and the beginning of the new millennium, a new wave of migration has taken place, pushing Italians to leave the country and to head – again – towards Germany. The major difference with respect to former migrations in the sixties and seventies lies in the fact that many new migrants are often highly educated and have a high sociocultural background. These attributes caused the establishment of the term "Cervelli in fuga" – brains on the run. These sociocultural premises imply a relatively wide linguistic repertoire among these new migrants, which often includes not only English and French but sometimes German too. The following article analyzes how the "cervelli in fuga" build up their social networks and how these networks are tied to their linguistic habits.