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ShareOct. 10, 2012 — Researchers at Western University have created a mouse model that reproduces some of the chemical changes in the brain that occur with Alzheimer's, shedding new light on this devastating disease. Marco Prado, Vania Prado and their colleagues at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry's Robarts Research Institute, looked at changes related to a neurotransmitter or chemical messenger, named acetylcholine (ACh), and the kinds of memory problems associated with it.
The research is now published online by PNAS.
The researchers, including first author Amanda Martyn, created a mouse line that doesn't have enough ACh being secreted by neurons in the same brain regions affected by Alzheimer's disease. They found this neurochemical failure caused problems with spatial memory, the stored information that is needed for navigating one's environment. For instance, the memory needed to drive across town. They also found the reduction of ACh led to hyperactivity, which many patients with Alzheimer's experience.
"Once we reproduced that neurochemical failure, we asked, 'how does that affect spatial memory, how does it affect learning?' We found mice that don't have that particular chemical messenger in specific areas of the brain, have problems with spatial memory, for example," says Marco Prado. "This reveals specific types of cognitive deficits that we can hope to improve with drugs that boost this chemical messenger."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Western Ontario, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- A. C. Martyn, X. De Jaeger, A. C. Magalhaes, R. Kesarwani, D. F. Goncalves, S. Raulic, M. S. Guzman, M. F. Jackson, I. Izquierdo, J. F. MacDonald, M. A. M. Prado, V. F. Prado. Elimination of the vesicular acetylcholine transporter in the forebrain causes hyperactivity and deficits in spatial memory and long-term potentiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1215381109
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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