A new study has found that memory could possibly be improved through a substance found in the spinal fluid of young animals and young people.
Published in the journal Nature, the study done on mice found that aging mice had better memory after receiving the substance, and now scientists are looking at the findings as a way to combat Alzheimer's disease.
Tony Wyss-Coray, a scientist from Stanford University, had the idea for the study and worked with researcher Tal Iram to complete it. Wyss-Coray shared the findings with NPR, explaining how the mice responded to the treatment.
Mice are often used when testing memory treatments as they, like humans, struggle with memory as they get older.
Wyss-Coray shared that when mice are young, they can remember painful experiences for weeks, but they forget about them within a few days as they get older.
However, after they gave the old mice an infusion of spinal fluid from young mice, they saw a change in their ability to remember.
The idea to give the older mice more spinal fluid came from Wyss-Coray realizing that the brain and spinal cord are bathed in the fluid more so at young ages.
"We were hoping that by mimicking a young environment that the brain would respond to that with better function," Wyss-Coray said.
Genetics tests showed that the spinal fluid was rejuvenating the cells located in the hippocampus used to help with memory, NPR reported.
Other tests showed that the cells responded to a growth factor called FGF17 that isn't as prominent in the brain as people get older.
Wyss-Coray and his team injected the growth factor into the old mice's brains and found they could remember things that had happened to them better than before.
Following the results of the study, scientists are looking into the effect that the treatment could have on humans who have Alzheimer's as a possible treatment to help those suffering from memory loss.
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