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Research conducted by a team that
included scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the Minnesota
Medical School in 2005 identified a substance in the brain which they
have identified as causing memory loss. The researchers, aware that
people with Alzheimer’s suffer memory loss before they are formally
diagnosed, hypothesized that there is a substance in the brain that
causes memory impairment before nerve cells begin to die. To test
this hypothesis, the researchers manipulated the genetic make-up of
mice to develop memory loss in the same way as people with the early
signs of memory loss. Using mice
that showed early signs of memory loss and had no plaques or nerve
cell loss in the brain, they discovered a form of the amyloid-beta
protein that is distinct from plaques. They extracted and purified
this newly found protein complex and injected it into healthy rats.
The rats suffered cognitive impairment. This revealed that the
amyloid-beta protein does, indeed, have a detrimental effect on
memory.
This
research also proves that unnatural accumulations of two naturally
occurring proteins in the brain, amyloid-beta and tau, are not the
causes of memory loss, as previously believed.
(B. Bower "Early
stress in rats bites memory later on: inadequate care to young
animals delivers delayed hit to the brain".
Science News. Oct 22, 2005. FindArticles.com. 06 Nov. 2006).
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