http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Study+unlocks+neurological+secrets/655
0652/story.html




Study unlocks neurological secrets
 
 
 

Scientists' findings on how memories are encoded could help Alzheimer's
patients
 
 
 
By CHARLIE FIDELMAN, Gazette Health ReporterMay 2, 2012 8:41 AM
 
 
 












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MONTREAL - Some arrive like faded postcards from the past - powerful
memories triggered by images, scents and snippets of songs. But what are
memories made of ?
 
Scientists have long known that memories are formed in the hippocampus,
which is one of the first regions of the brain to suffer damage from
Alzheimer's disease. But despite advances in the field, the process of how
brain cells encrypt memories is still shrouded in mystery.
 
Now a team of Montreal scientists has identified a blueprint for how
memories are encoded.
 
Published Wednesday in The Journal of Neuroscience, the findings may lead to
a better understanding of memory impairments, as well as therapies for such
neurodegenerative disorders as Alzheimer's.
 
The research team, led by neuroscientist Jean-Claude Lacaille of the
Université de Montréal's department of physiology, looked at the sprawling
connections between networks of brain cells where memories are made.

The team looked at slices of rat hippocampus and focused on a molecule
called CREB that is considered critical for memory formation.
 
"We already know that the hippocampus is essential for memory," said
Lacaille, who holds the Canada Research Chair in cellular and molecular
neurophysiology, and conducted the study with researchers Israeli Ran and
Isabel Laplante.
 
Neurons talk to one another by secreting chemicals that either excite other
neurons into taking action or inhibit them from "passing the message,"
Lacaille explained. "Our paper looked at synapses - the site of
communication between neurons - and the changes that occur at the synapses
when memories are consolidated."
 
Previous European studies showed rats had poor or imprecise memories after
chemical changes from inhibitory cells were knocked out, he said.
 
"We knew very little about them, just that they were important for setting
the precision of the memory," said Lacaille. His team created a cell model
that mimics memory in a petri dish.
 
"Once we know that, we have a blueprint," Lacaille said, adding that this
basic science could eventually be used to target memory deficits or perhaps
develop a super memory.
 
"Although you don't want to remember everything in your life. Just the
important things," Lacaille added.
 
He said his next step is to confirm the finding by moving to animal
behaviour.
 
It's good that Lacaille has figured out how these mechanisms work, said
neuroscientist Wayne Sossin of the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill
University, who was not involved in the study.
 
"It's a memory blueprint, part of a blueprint, but you still have to build
the building," Sossin said.
 
Alzheimer research advocates welcomed the discovery as yet another step
forward in the fight against the disease.
 
"More than ever, research is critical because the number of Canadians with
dementia is already at 500,000 and is increasing rapidly," said Naguib
Gouda, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
 
The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the
Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé.
 
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