Improve memory by modifying brain waves



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Brain signals called net wave ripples (SPW-R) are assumed to support memory consolidation. A team led by researchers at New York University's (NYU) School of Medicine discovered that an artificial modification of the length of SPW-R could improve short-term memory in rats, thus offering new potential approach for the treatment of memory disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

The team found that, when they lengthened RPS-R in rats, the ability of animals to perform tasks requiring short and medium-term memory improved. In people, these memories may include, for example, visiting a new place and the opportunity to remember how to get there. The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Science, hope future studies could reveal new strategies for modifying SPW-R with drugs.

For their study, the New York University team designed labyrinths for rats, rewarding them with sweet water when they found the right route. This route is moved between the left and right arms of the labyrinth. Thus, to get the reward, rodents had to use their short-term memory to make their way along the opposite path they had used in a previous maze trip.

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Nerve cells send out electrical impulses to relay complex information and coordinate memories. This "triggering" of signals creates SPW-Rs that can be represented graphically on an electroencephalogram. Rather than randomly stimulating wrinkles, researchers have doubled the duration of spontaneous SPW-Rs made by rat brain cells during navigation tasks.

It turned out that rats with prolonged RPSPs were better by 10% to 15% to find the reward than rats without altered signals, according to the team. In addition, extensive ripples recruited slower-triggering neurons into their sequences. Researchers had previously shown that slower neurons changed their properties better when something new was learned than fast-triggering neurons.

"Our study is the first in our field to have artificially altered intrinsic neural trigger patterns in the brain region, called the hippocampus, which has increased learning ability, instead of interfering as it had already been tried, "said György Buzáki, lead author of the study. A declaration.

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Buzsaki's research could spark new ideas for fighting Alzheimer's disease, which is often characterized by a disturbing memory loss in the short term. Alzheimer's clinical studies have suffered many setbacks lately. Biogen and Eisai have been forced to suspend phase 3 development of their anti-beta-amyloid drug, aducanumab, adding to a long list of unsuccessful attempts in the amyloid field.

Meanwhile, some university scientists are pursuing new ideas for treating Alzheimer's disease. For example, a team from Stanford University recently discovered that down-regulating a B cell receptor called CD22 could improve cognitive function. Another group from the University of Florida reported that soluble versions of Toll-type receptors were a promising way to reduce amyloid plaque accumulation and brain inflammation.

To test the hypothesis that longer SPW-Rs are beneficial to memory, the NYU team has lengthened them in rats using an invasive procedure. "Our next step will be to try to understand how nonviolent waves can be prolonged by non-invasive means, which, if successful, would have consequences for the treatment of memory disorders," said the first author of the report. Study, Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz.

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