TY - JOUR
AU - Mitka, Mike
AB - Animal research suggests that a drug used to treat people with high stress levels can help restore memories lost to brain damage. The finding, by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, was published in the December issue of Nature Neuroscience. The researchers found that administering metyrapone, which limits circulation of the stress hormone corticosterone, to rats restored memories impaired by damage to the brain's hippocampus region. This region is easily damaged by neurodegenerative diseases, stroke, hypoxia, and illnesses related to stress. In the study, cell lesions were induced in the CA3 region of the hippocampus by administering low doses of kainic acid. The rats were then trained in a water maze; their ability to negotiate the course was not affected by the lesions. But when tested a day later in the maze, memory was impaired—the rats needed, on average, twice the time to negotiate the maze. These rats also had significantly inflated corticosterone levels in the blood. Half the rats were then injected with metyrapone, after which they were able to negotiate the maze just like rats without brain damage. Tests conducted afterward showed that the administration of metyrapone had reduced corticosterone to normal levels.
TI - Restoring Impaired Memory
JF - JAMA
DO - 10.1001/jama.287.4.443-JQU10013-4-1
DA - 2002-01-23
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/american-medical-association/restoring-impaired-memory-stw14p771j
SP - 443
EP - 443
VL - 287
IS - 4
DP - DeepDyve
ER -