Cognitive processes, particularly learning and memory, are crucial brain mechanisms mediating the successful adaptation of individuals to constantly changing environmental conditions. Impairments in memory performance during
neurodegenerative disorders or
dementias affect life quality of patients as well as their relatives and careers, and thus have a severe socio-economic impact. The last decades have viewed learning and memory as predominantly
protein-mediated process at the synapses of brain neurons. However, recent developments propose a principally new,
lipid-based mechanism that regulates cognition. Thereby, crucial members of cell membranes, the
sphingolipids, emerged to play an outstanding role in learning and memory. The most abundant brain
sphingolipids,
ceramides and
gangliosides, dynamically shape the composition of
protein carrying cellular membranes. This, in turn, regulates
protein signaling through the membranes and overall neuronal plasticity. An imbalance in
sphingolipid composition and disrupted dynamics significantly affect normal functioning of cells and results in the development of multiple psychiatric and
neurological disorders with
cognitive impairments.
Ceramides and
gangliosides interact with a plethora of molecular pathways determining de novo learning and memory, as well as pathogenic pathways of
neurodegenerative disorders and
dementias of various origins. Considering
sphingolipids as a trigger mechanism for learning and memory under physiological and pathological conditions, a principally new class of
lipid-based preventive and therapeutic approaches to target
cognitive impairments and
dementias is emerging.