1. A method comprising: a) administering to a first mammal a pharmaceutical agent of interest; b) providing training to said first mammal and to a control mammal of the same species under conditions sufficient to produce maximal levels of long-term memory formation in said first mammal and said control mammal, wherein said maximal levels of long-term memory formation are not further increased by additional training; and c) determining whether the pharmaceutical agent of interest is capable of modulating long-term memory formation through the STAUFEN pathway by measuring the difference in long-term memory formation between the mammals in step b), and assessing modulation of STAUFEN function in the mammals in step b), wherein the modulation of STAUFEN function is selected from the group consisting of: a change in the level of STAUFEN protein, a change in the level of staufen mRNA, a change in the level of a downstream product regulated by STAUFEN protein, a difference in the translocation of STAUFEN protein into dendrites, and a difference in the distribution of neural granules.