(Press-News.org) JUPITER, FL, April 2, 2012 – Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shown in animal models that the loss of memory that comes with aging is not necessarily a permanent thing.
In a new study published this week in an advance, online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ron Davis, chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Scripps Florida, and Ayako Tonoki-Yamaguchi, a research associate in Davis's lab, took a close look at memory and memory traces in the brains of both young and old fruit flies.
What they found is that like other organisms—from mice to humans—there is a defect that occurs in memory with aging. In the case of the fruit fly, the ability to form memories lasting a few hours (intermediate-term memory) is lost due to age-related impairment of the function of certain neurons. Intriguingly, the scientists found that stimulating those same neurons can reverse these age-related memory defects.
"This study shows that once the appropriate neurons are identified in people, in principle at least one could potentially develop drugs to hit those neurons and rescue those memories affected by the aging process," Davis said. "In addition, the biochemistry underlying memory formation in fruit flies is remarkably conserved with that in humans so that everything we learn about memory formation in flies is likely applicable to human memory and the disorders of human memory."
While no one really understands what is altered in the brain during the aging process, in the current study the scientists were able to use functional cellular imaging to monitor the changes in the fly's neuron activity before and after learning to view those changes.
"We are able to peer down into the fly brain and see changes in the brain," Davis said. "We found changes that appear to reflect how intermediate-term memory is encoded in these neurons."
Olfactory memory, which was used by the scientists, is the most widely studied form of memory in fruit flies—basically pairing an odor with a mild electric shock. These tactics produce short-term memories that persist for around half an hour, intermediate-term memory that lasts a few hours, and long-term memory that persists for days.
The team found that in aged animals, the signs of encoded memory were absent after a few hours. In that way, the scientists also learned exactly which neurons in the fly are altered by aging to produce intermediate-term memory impairment. This advance, Davis notes, should greatly help scientists understand how aging alters neuronal function.
Intriguingly, the scientists took the work a step further and stimulated these neurons to see if the memory could be rescued. To do this, the scientists placed either cold-activated or heat-activated ion channels in the neurons known to become defective with aging and then used cold, or heat, to stimulate them. In both cases, the intermediate-term memory was successfully rescued.
INFORMATION:
The study, "Aging Impairs Intermediate-Term Behavioral Memory by Disrupting the Neuron Memory Trace," was supported by the Ellison Medical Foundation and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
Scripps Florida scientists shed light on age-related memory loss and possible treatments
Fruit flies offer insights on aging
2012-04-04
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Infovole Presents Word-2-Text Converter For The Apple iPad
2012-04-04
Only a few iPad Apps can open Microsoft Word -documents, and most of them just display the content without giving the possibility to edit it. Additionally, most Apps on the iOS-platform omit contents when they display DOCX- or DOC-files.
With Word-2-Text, the content of a Word-document can be extracted as plain text and transferred to any iPad App. This way users can import DOCX- and DOC-files to all common text editors, notebooks and other Apps and have them on hand for full-text-search and editing.
Mail, Safari , Dropbox, Evernote and all other WebKit-based Apps ...
Should a genetic predisposition to breast cancer be disclosed to children?
2012-04-04
New Rochelle, NY, April 2, 2012—When a mother undergoes genetic testing to determine whether she carries a gene for hereditary breast cancer, the parents must then decide whether and how to share this risk information with their children. Conventional genetic counseling does not help parents with these difficult decisions, according to an article in Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.(http://www.liebertpub.com) The article is available free on the Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers website (http://www.liebertpub.com/gtmb). ...
Pastor Pierre Bennett, Founder of God's Luv International Ministries Church Reports Miracles
2012-04-04
Pastor Pierre Bennett, founder of God's Luv International Ministries Church, has long believed in the power of faith. While serving as assistant pastor of Upper Room International Church, Pastor Pierre Bennett was struck with a vision of a worldwide ministry of care. In 2008, he took major steps toward making that vision a reality by founding God's Luv International Ministries Church.
Faith healing is a concept that dates all the way to early Biblical times, with healing regularly mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments. Pastor Pierre Bennett has seen the power ...
Burtele foot indicates Lucy not alone
2012-04-04
A new fossil discovery from Eastern Africa called the Burtele foot indicates Australopithecus afarensis, an early relative of modern humans, may not have been the only hominin to walk the plains and woodlands of what is now the Afar region of Ethiopia some 3.4 million years ago.
Researchers openly have questioned whether Au. afarensis, the species to which the famous fossil "Lucy" belongs, was the only living hominin during the late Pliocene of Africa. Lucy's bones provided evidence that she and perhaps other early hominins may have walked upright, but whether or not ...
Caliber Point honored at BPO Excellence Awards 2012
2012-04-04
Caliber Point Business Solutions Limited., a leading BPO service provider and a wholly owned subsidiary of Hexaware Technologies Limited, today announced that they are one of the joint winners of the 'Best IT Enablement in BPO' Award at the BPO Excellence Awards 2011 - 12.
The BPO Excellence Awards are aimed at identifying and rewarding professionals and organizations for their superlative achievements in the field of Business Process Outsourcing. Judged by an independent jury that consists of leaders and experts from the industry, the BPO Excellence Awards are true ...
Vistra Announces Latest Office Opening In Mauritius
2012-04-04
Vistra, a leading global provider of corporate, trust and fund administration services, announced today that it has opened a new office in Mauritius to target the growing opportunities in the region and in particular in the African and Indian markets. Vistra (Mauritius) Limited has opened on 02 April, following the granting of a licence to operate as a Mauritius management company by the local regulatory authority.
Vistra believes Mauritius offers an excellent gateway for clients seeking investment structuring solutions for African markets, given the continent's vast ...
Fermi observations of dwarf galaxies provide new insights on dark matter
2012-04-04
There's more to the cosmos than meets the eye. About 80 percent of the matter in the universe is invisible to telescopes, yet its gravitational influence is manifest in the orbital speeds of stars around galaxies and in the motions of clusters of galaxies. Yet, despite decades of effort, no one knows what this "dark matter" really is. Many scientists think it's likely that the mystery will be solved with the discovery of new kinds of subatomic particles, types necessarily different from those composing atoms of the ordinary matter all around us. The search to detect and ...
2X Software Exhibits Together with Microsoft at Tech Data Channel Link 2012 in Las Vegas
2012-04-04
2X Software, a global leader in Cloud Computing and a Tech Data StreamOne Vendor, is pleased to partner with Microsoft to exhibit at Tech Data Channel Link 2012. Over 500 resellers will be attending the event from the 10-12 April 2012 at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
Channel Link 2012 will cover a range of technologies including Cloud and Mobility solutions where 2X are ideally placed to offer insights to the channel.
2X ApplicationServer XG http://www.2x.com/applicationserver/, transforms the foundation of Microsoft Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Services to combine ...
Mayo Clinic-led study finds 2-drug combo slows advanced pancreatic cancer
2012-04-04
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The combination of the novel drug TH-302 with the standard drug gemcitabine has shown early signs of delaying the worsening of cancer in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, a Mayo Clinic-led study has found. This was evaluated using a measure termed progression-free survival (PFS). According to the results of a multi-center Phase II clinical trial, patients receiving the combination of gemcitabine and TH-302 demonstrated a progression-free survival of 5.6 months compared to 3.6 months in those patients who received gemcitabine alone.
The two-month ...
Task force recommends reducing global harvest of 'forage fish'
2012-04-04
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A task force that conducted one of the most comprehensive analyses of global "forage fish" populations issued its report this week, which strongly recommends implementing more conservative catch limits for these crucial prey species.
The Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force calls for the harvest reduction of sardines, anchovies and other forage fish so that they can continue to serve as critical prey for larger species, including salmon, cod and tuna, as well as for dolphins, whales, penguins and seabirds.
The report concludes that the fish are "twice as ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue
UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’
New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening
Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas
Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition
CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves
Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam
Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand
Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch
New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed
New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations
Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency
How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads
Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids
Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation
Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria
Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options
Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity
Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers
Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time
‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’
Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible
Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound
American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care
Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential
Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research
Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration
Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce
Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care
Resident physician intentions regarding unionization
[Press-News.org] Scripps Florida scientists shed light on age-related memory loss and possible treatmentsFruit flies offer insights on aging