The breakdown of protective “nets” around nerve cells in the brain may be why Alzheimer’s patients forget their loved ones, according to a new study.
A devastating consequence of Alzheimer’s is that patients forget even close family and friends. But exactly what changes in the brain cause the neurological disease to worsen to this level remains a subject of scientific debate.
Researchers at the University of Virginia in the US say the failure to recognise family, friends and caregivers is caused by the breakdown of protective “nets” that surround neurons in the brain.
They found that preventing the loss of these nets in lab mice prevented the loss of memories relating to previous social interactions.
“Finding a structural change that explains a specific memory loss in Alzheimer’s is very exciting,” said Harald Sontheimer, one of the authors of the new study published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia. “It is a completely new target, and we already have suitable drug candidates in hand.”
The findings may help develop new treatments for Alzheimer’s patients, researchers say.
Some 55 million people around the world suffer from Alzheimer’s and this number is estimated to grow by 35 per cent over the next five years alone.
“In Alzheimer’s, people have trouble remembering their family and friends due to the loss of a memory known as social memory,” Lata Chaunsali, another study author, said.
“We found that the net-like coating known as perineuronal nets protects these social memories.”
The study found that mice with faulty nerve nets lost their ability to remember other mice, known as their “social memory”, even when they could still form new memories of objects in their environment. When these brain structures were kept safe early in life, the rodents with Alzheimer’s fared better at remembering their social interactions.
To protect the net structures, scientists used a class of drugs called “MMP inhibitors”, which are already being investigated for their potential to treat cancer and arthritis.
Since changes seen in mice brains align with those in human Alzheimer’s patients, researchers theorise that targeting the protective nets in people will offer similar benefits.
“Although we have drugs that can delay the loss of perineuronal nets, and thereby delay memory loss in disease,” Dr Sontheimer said, “more research has to be done regarding safety and effectiveness of our approach before this can be considered in humans.”
Scientists document a death from a meat allergy tied to certain ticks
Texas A&M University professors now need approval for some race and gender topics
New tool calculates Alzheimer’s risk years before symptom appear
The truth behind the chemtrails and why the conspiracy just won’t go away
The space laboratories working on a breakthrough for an ‘incurable’ disease
