Scientists Reawaken Memory in Mice That Had a Condition Resembling Alzheimer’s

Experiments by Christine Denny at Columbia University have resulted in researchers reawakening forgotten memories in mice. Scientists have long thought that individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s disease were losing memories; that individual neurons storing memories were actually being erased. Through the aid of genetically engineered mice, researchers have found this is not actually the case.

Denny’s research team conducted an experiment in which mice were introduced to a lemon scent and then shocked. Genetically engineered mice with brain dysfunction similar to Alzheimer’s did not react the next time the smelled the lemon scent. The lack of reaction was an indication they were not recalling the correct memory. Through the use of lasers, researchers stimulated neurons associated with the lemon scent. The next time these mice were exposed to the smell, they reacted in anticipation to the electric shock. The study is ground-breaking and brings with it hope that memories in Alzheimer’s patients might be reactivated.

See Alice Klein, Scientists Reawaken Memory in Mice That Had a Condition Resembling Alzheimer’s, The Washington Post, July 29, 2017.

Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.