Age-Related Forgetfulness Tied to Diminished Brain Protein

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28/age-related-forgetfulness-tied-to-diminished-brain-protein.html

Age-related forgetfulness may be due to a deficiency in a brain protein that helps form memories, a study found. Targeting the gene that produces that protein could lead to new therapies, the researchers said.

Scientists identified the protein, called RbAp48, in human brain cells and showed that inhibiting it in mice made the animals forgetful while raising the protein improved their memories. That suggests that age-related memory loss may be reversible, researchers said.

“All of us are living longer, and we want to stay engaged in a cognitively complex world,” said Scott Small, a study author and neurologist at Columbia University in New York. The mouse studies show that that too little of the protein is causing memory loss, he said.

The findings also confirm that age-related memory loss is different from the deficits seen in Alzheimer’s disease. The research is published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

[geckosfeet]

1. What was that you said...?

Need to go eat a steak....

[mopinko]

2. funny

i had a sudden urge for a steak, too.

[bemildred]

3. Have you seen my glasses? nt