The Perfect Cram Drug? Scientists Identify Single Enzyme To Fix The Memory Of a Tired Brain

By Stuart Fox Posted 10.22.2009 at 2:00 pm 8 Comments

It's Cool, I'll Just Write It On My Arm Including all known Lanthanides and Actinides? via Densemstuco

We've all been there, late at night and early in the morning, forcing any and every last morsel of knowledge into our weak and exhausted brains. But when the test flops down on our desk, we just stare blankly at the forbidding blue book page. All that knowledge, gone. Either it didn't stick, or it has hid in some inaccessible crevasse deep in the brain.

Memory problems related to sleep deprivation have stymied everyone from college students getting ready for a biochemistry test to Army interrogators probing a tired detainee. Now, scientists have discovered that the memory loss associated with lack of sleep comes down to a single neurological pathway, opening up the possibility of a drug that fixes the memory of a tired brain.

The researches, working out of the University of Pennsylvania, looked at the brains of sleep deprived mice, and found that an enzyme called PDE4 actively inhibited the fixation of memory. When the tired mice were treated with drugs that inhibited PDE4, they remembered a fear stimulus no matter how tired they were when learning it.

Naturally, the researchers hope to use this discovery to help the memory of people suffering from sleep disorders. However, I have no doubt that every medical and law student reading this is actually waiting for the arrival of the ultimate cram drug.

[via Nature News]

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8 Comments

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finitesolutions

10/22/09 at 2:43 pm

I hope they will discover a knowledge pill fast because reading is so slowwwwwww.

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Kim - Talkingde...

10/22/09 at 3:17 pm

until then, its coffee

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steve28

10/22/09 at 6:10 pm

I wonder why they dont mention what the drug is that they are using/testing .
When I was in college late night cram sessions were the norm for early exams . coffee helped me stay awake but POT helped my memory . I would smoke POT while studying and then get lightly stoned before the tests . I could recall alot more this way . Experimented with and without and found what worked for me .

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NeonRobot

10/22/09 at 7:14 pm

Interesting... One would think the opposite, right?

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frisbee10

10/22/09 at 9:08 pm

Ha ha ha ha! This article is a classic example of poor research. The classic PDE4 inhibitor is... CAFFEINE. So we don't even know if memory was improved from the drug itself or from NOT BEING TIRED ANYMORE. Sheesh.

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EricIQ-2

10/23/09 at 7:32 am

Great! Another pill the world can become dependant on. I can't wait.

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Oakspar77777

10/23/09 at 7:53 am

If reading is slow, do more of it. REading, like running, increases in pace and stamina the more you do it.

If pot helped you recall anything (which I doubt, as it likely just made you care less about all that you were not recalling) it would be because of the calming affect on test anxiety. Note, test anxiety doesn't happen when you are not up late studying for the test the night before, but are actually learning the content over time for mastery, rather than assessment manipulation.

While I could see military aplications for this kind of research for use under duress, it is ot needed by the common public.

There is no magic pill to make you thin, strong, or smart. Any chemical that does any of those things, by the balance of Nature, which hates cheating, will come with terrible side effects.

If you want to be thin, control your calorie intake and burn. If you want to be strong, exercise. If you want to be smart, read and learn. There are no shortcuts.

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tianlechen

10/23/09 at 9:58 am

sheesh and cramming for exams dont work. LISTENING during lectures actually do. (surprise?)
daily work dude... if u can cram everything u need within 1 night why the coursework?

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