It may seem normal: As we age, we misplace car keys, or can't remember a name we just learned or a meal we just ordered. But University of Florida researchers say memory trouble doesn't have to be inevitable, and they've found a drug therapy that could potentially reverse this type of memory decline.
The drug can't yet be used in humans, but the researchers are pursuing compounds that could someday help the population of aging adults who don't have Alzheimer's or other dementias but still have trouble remembering day-to-day items. Their findings will be published in today's (March 5) issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
The kind of memory responsible for holding information in the mind for short periods of time is called "working memory." Working memory relies on a balance of chemicals in the brain. The UF study shows this chemical balance tips in older adults, and working memory declines. The reason? It could be because their brains are producing too much of a chemical that slows neural activity.
"Graduate student Cristina Banuelos' work suggests that cells that normally provide the brake on neural activity are in overdrive in the aged prefrontal cortex," said researcher Jennifer Bizon, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of neuroscience and a member of UF's Evelyn F. & William L. McKnight Brain Institute.
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