Optogenetics New techniques could restore our memories

Optogenetics could help many patients with Alzheimer's disease in the future
Would not it be wonderful if we could restore forgotten memories? Especially for people with Alzheimer's disease, it would be enormously important to get their thoughts and memories back. Scientists now discovered a way to stimulate nerve cells, which then grow new connections in our brain.

One of the effects of Alzheimer's is that sufferers forget their memories, which makes it increasingly difficult for them to cope with the activities of everyday life. Patients often experience an increasing decline in cognitive performance. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have now discovered in an investigation that there is a way to restore lost memories. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "Nature".

A new technique, called optogenetics, may soon make it possible to restore lost memories to patients with Alzheimer's disease. (Image: pict rider / Fotolia.com)

Optogenetic treatment helped neurons grow
The scientists have now been able to restore lost memories. The technique has so far only been used successfully in mice. The new findings may make it possible in the future to reverse memory loss in the early stages of the disease, explain the physicians. The experts used a technique called optogenetics, which uses light to activate cells labeled with a specific light-sensitive protein.

The new method was tested on mice with Alzheimer's-like symptoms. These quickly forgot the experience of having received a light electric shock on their feet. After labeled cells in the brain were excited with light, their memory returned and they displayed a fear reaction when placed in the chamber where they received an electric shock an hour earlier, say the physicians. The optogenetic treatment helped the neurons grow again and form small buds, which are also called dendritic spines. These then form synaptic connections with other cells, the experts add.

Nobel laureate led the new study
The researchers' research specifically focused on the previously identified memory cells in the hippocampus region of the brain. The results prove that lost memories are still stored, explain the doctors. The only question is how these memories can be reactivated, says lead author Professor Susumu Tonegawa of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The well-known researcher received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987. Two different strains of mice were genetically engineered to help the animals develop Alzheimer's symptoms. There was also a control group of healthy animals.

Results could lead to new Alzheimer's treatment in the future
Longer-term activation of "lost" memories has been triggered by the stimulation of new connections between the hippocampus and the brain regions of the entorhinal cortex, say physicians. It is possible that in the future some technologies could be developed to activate or deactivate cells in our brain, such as the hippocampus or the entorhinal cortex, explains Prof. Tonegawa. The study's basic research provides information on the alignment of cell populations, which is very important for future applications and technologies. Thus, Alzheimer's treatment could be within reach, say the experts. One of the key questions in understanding memory loss in Alzheimer's is that we do not know exactly whether people with Alzheimer's have problems storing memories or can not remember stored knowledge, the researchers explain.

The new research concerns processes and problems that lead to memory loss in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease. The results suggest that the recall of stored knowledge is the problem, say the experts. However, there is still a long way to go to understand whether it is possible for people to restore lost memories, the experts add. (As)