New Approach to Preserve Memory
Saving human memory is one of the highest level of care sought by modern medicine. The concept is integral in the treatment and care of individuals suffering from a traumatic brain injury or Alzheimer’s. New research suggests the discovery of a protein that controls the odds of memory formation may lead to an entirely new approach for preserving memory. The finding, by scientists from UCLA/University of Toronto is important because until now, scientists knew little about how the brain assigns cells to participate in encoding and storing memories. As reported in the April 20 edition of Science, a new approach for preserving memory in people suffering from Alzheimer’s or other brain injury may be forthcoming. Alcino Silva, principal investigator and a professor of neurobiology and psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA explains, “Learning triggers a cascade of chemicals in the brain that influence which memories are kept and which are lost. Earlier studies have linked the CREB protein to keeping memories stable. We suspected it also played a key role in channeling memories to brain cells that are ready to store them.”
