Posted 12.21.2011 at 12:04 pm
17 Comments
Lab Mouse
Wikimedia Commons user Rama
A new drug that blocks a stress-provoked immune molecule in the brain can dramatically improve memory and learning abilities in mice, a new study says. A future pill that can suppress this molecule could show promise as a therapy for Alzheimer’s disease in humans, researchers say.
The treatment involves the enzyme PKR, which protects against viral infections. It serves two functions in the brain, acting as a stress responder that can cause cell death (such as in the case of a viral invasion) and regulating synaptic activity as it relates to the formation of memories. The brains of patients with Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and other neurological diseases have been found to experience PKR activation. Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and McGill University in Montreal wanted to study the effects of PKR deficiency.
They genetically modified some mice to lack a gene that codes for PKR formation, and subjected the mice to some memory tests. A spatial memory test required mice to use visual cues to find a hidden platform inside a circular pool, for instance. Regular mice had to repeat the task a few times over a few days to remember where the platform was located, but the PKR-deficient mice figured it out after just one training session, according to a Baylor news release. Dr. Mauro Costa-Mattioli, assistant professor of neuroscience at BCM and lead author on the paper, said the researchers found that another immune enzyme, gamma interferon, took over some of PKR’s memory functions. It increased synaptic communication among neurons and gave the mice a sort of “super-memory,” Costa-Mattioli said.
The next step is the most interesting part, and could hold the most promise for research on Alzheimer’s and other neurological disorders. Costa-Mattioli and colleagues figured out a PKR inhibitor and injected it into the stomachs of normal, non-genetically-modified mice. It worked to suppress the PKR, the researchers said. The success of a gut-injected form suggests a pill form could also work well.
That’s several years and several human trials away, of course, but Costa-Mattioli said it could eventually help people who suffer from memory loss. The research appears in the journal Cell.
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you know one of these days we're going to make sentient mice... i wonder if we'll be able to order them around?
to mars or bust!
yeah pretty sure Mice are sentient.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentience
Even in the most strict sense, mice have been shown to enjoy being tickled and wasn't there just an article posted here that showed they would actually free other trapped mice.... I have seen this first hand, we were humane trapping some of the field mice that got into our house, I kept the ones we caugt in an aquarium on our porch. I came out one day to find a free mouse helping the trapped mouse chew away at the tank's top in order to get the mouse out.
anyway...
Where do I sign up? Wonder if the effects stretch past just memory into something like in the movie "Limitless", that would be pretty damn cool, well less the side effects that is.
Playing Devil's Advocate since 1978
"The only constant in the universe is change"
-Heraclitus of Ephesus 535 BC - 475 BC
I am all for brain enhancement but can we have a drug that just enhances rather using tricks of geneology to "express" some genes at the expense of others? Viral resistance sounds pretty important to me...
Maybe see how this enzyme has two functions and isolate the properties that do either one then make a drug for it?
Pinky: "Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?"
The Brain: "The same thing we do every night, Pinky—try to take over the world!"
But But... What if the poor mouse just wants to forget all that lab torture???
I think I'd like to pony up for human trials on this one. Make my brain uber photographic, my wit sharper than a scalpel, my charm warmer than a back rub. Bring it. :)
Disappointed the article does not mention Flowers For Algernon
" acting as a stress responder that can cause cell death (such as in the case of a viral invasion)". So, does PKR kill brain cells, or does it kill invading viral cells?
If it's the latter, maybe lowering PKR isn't such a great idea.
And many thanks for that bewildering sentence.
@CodeZero
That would be pretty dam cool.
Although in another article I read it said it's not intended for everyone which I think is ridiculous, If it has no side effects and is proven to help the brain it should be available to the public. It could help Teen's and College Students to remember and understand more.......
We can only hope for the best............
@CodeZero
That would be pretty dam cool.
Although in another article I read it said it's not intended for everyone which I think is ridiculous, If it has no side effects and is proven to help the brain it should be available to the public. It could help Teen's and College Students to remember and understand more.......
Every morning, I wake out of bed happy. I have no reason for it; it is just natural for me. I also have a hard time keeping anger in my mind for a long time. I do forget things easily too. While I do appreciate having a good memory, at times, I feel I am lucky too for not saving all the bad emotions and keeping anger.
Perhaps a drug to enhance our memories may cause depression as we clearing keep all the bad things of our life. Be careful what you wish for.......
I do hope this medicine and medical science helps those with bad memories problem and bad mental problems.
I for one would like to see real world uses for this. Having a Great Grandparent, as well as a Grandparent who suffered from Alzheimer’s as well as I have had these affects myself to some extent, relish the thought of not succumbing.
I would apply for trial use so that I may remember my yesterdays as well as my yester-years. Never mind the whole degenerative muscle use, defecating on yourself as you "forget" about getting up and going. I've lived through all that through them and wish not this on My kids...
@johnnyphoenix Photographic memory is NOT photographic at all, infact anyone can have it but anyone that has it learned it will know its not photographic at all, its like WEIRD...
Its funny how this relates to the plot of Rise of the Planet of the Apes... I could foresee how this will end with the annihilation of the human Race...But on a more serious note the effects of the drug could lead to an enhancement in the World Intelligence Quotient and essentially enhance the human receptors in the mind to increase the input of knowledge and hopefully increase the output of more productive ideas.
That drug is horrible. Long term side affects include preventing your abililty to determine predictions or precognition based on experiences. Its great for learning but horrible for common sense.
@ford2go,
I believe it triggers cell death in brain cells that have been infected w/a virus.
That is how I understand the statement...but I'm no neuroscientist...
---
"Do not offer sympathy to the mentally ill.
Tell them firmly:
I am not paid to listen to this drivel.
You are a terminal boob." - William S. Burroughs