Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have conducted tests on a compound that slowed age-related memory loss in mice. An enzyme called 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 generates glucocorticoids, a class of hormones, that enhance memory formation:
The Edinburgh team showed that knocking out either one or both copies of the gene for this enzyme in mice preserved the animals’ memory into old age. To determine whether blocking the enzyme could improve memory in already aged animals, researchers then developed a compound designed to cross into the brain and inhibit the enzyme. Just 10 days of treatment in two-year-old mice–the maximum lifespan for a typical lab mouse–was enough to improve the animals’ performance on a test of spatial memory.
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