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LONDON, Mar 12, 2001 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Scientists have created mice with unusually long memories, raising the prospect of new drugs to prevent memory loss in human beings and even to help distressed patients to forget, The London Times reported Monday.
"This study has given us a new insight into the molecular processes that govern memory and learning in the brain," said Isabelle Mansuy, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. "It provides a number of exciting targets for research into human memory. Drugs could be developed to help people who lose their memories through old age or with Alzheimer's disease."
She said that the findings, details of which have been published in the journal Cell, would be of great value to medical research.
In a study by British, American, Swiss and French scientists, mice were created with a gene that blocks the function of a signaling protein called calcineurin in the brain, The Times said.
Calcineurin is thought to be a natural constraint on long-term memory. It speeds up the rate at which electrical signals in the brain die away, so that the messages they carry are not stored for long periods.
When its action is blocked, electrical signals fade more slowly, and information is retained for longer.
"If we can nail the molecules that are implicated in memory we can develop drugs that target these molecules to influence memory, " said Professor Tim Bliss, of the National Institute for Medical Research in London.
In maze tests, mice with the inhibitor gene remembered objects and surroundings for up to three days longer than ordinary mice in a control group. They also needed half the usual amount of training to learn to navigate a maze.
The results have convinced researchers that it will be possible to develop drugs to restore the failing memory of patients with dementia or brain damage, and to induce people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to forget disturbing experiences.
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
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