1 September 2016
Memory loss in mice has been successfully reversed following the discovery of new information about a key mechanism underlying the loss of nerve connectivity in the brain, say UCL researchers.
Published today in Current Biology, the study funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK, Parkinson’s UK, Wellcome, MRC and the EU investigated the mechanism driving communication breakdown in adult brains – specifically, the loss of connections between nerve cells in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that controls learning and memory. The team found Wnt proteins play a key role in the maintenance of nerve connectivity in the adult brain and could become targets for new treatments that prevent and restore brain function in neurodegenerative diseases.