New Asthma Drug Could Recover Lost Memories.mp4

But how does a drug used to treat respiratory and circulatory illnesses help the brain remember?

Transcript

00:00You've probably heard the phrase miracle drug before, with some pharmaceutical providing

00:07some fantastical cure to an oft-maligning ailment.

00:11But now neuroscientists with the University of Groningen in the Netherlands might have

00:14found just that, as they have been able to restore lost memories for the first time.

00:19Memories are chemically encoded on the brain, so researchers were looking to unlock lost

00:23memories by reactivating those particular neural structures.

00:26Sleep deprivation is a known cause of memory loss, as it's required for the hippocampus

00:30to consolidate and store new memories.

00:32So researchers induced amnesia in mice by disallowing them sleep for a period of time, later reactivating

00:37memories in their brains via light, meaning they regained the lost memories if the physical

00:42part of the brain was kickstarted.

00:44But light therapy is invasive, which is why they decided to give the memory retrieval a

00:48nudge with pharmaceuticals as well.

00:50They administered a drug called raflumilast, usually used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary

00:55disease to the amnesia-induced mice, finding that the drug was able to chemically kickstart

00:59the memory retrieval, with effects lasting for five days after administering it, meaning

01:04we could be one step closer to figuring out how to regain lost memories.

01:09depression after all.

01:10So this is a good story to think about raising their experience.

01:14In the beginning of this time, we have a better understanding of...

01:17Of course, we can allow ourselves to and have started following the following

01:26problems that run through the hands of the baby.

01:28We have no idea of the child and the child and the child, and the child, who are

01:33at the same time for their decline.