Drugs Enhance Long-term Memory at the Expense of Short-term

November 6, 2003

Drugs Enhance Long-term Memory at the Expense of Short-termGabe

RomainBetterhumans Staff

Wednesday, November 05, 2003, 4:12:58 PM CT

New research suggests that drugs designed to enhance some forms of memory in the

elderly may worsen working memory, the short-term memory that holds a limited

amount of information, such as a phone number.

The research, by scientists from Yale University School of Medicine in New

Haven, Connecticut, addresses the effects of certain compounds on various brain

regions associated with cognition, including the prefrontal cortex and the

hippocampus.

The prefrontal cortex is the largest single brain region in humans. It

facilitates the planning and production of thoughts, language, emotional

expression and actions.

The hippocampus is a structure in the brain associated with the regulation of

emotions and the transfer of information from short-term memory to long-term

memory.

Protein kinase A

In the hippocampus, the activity of an enzyme called protein kinase A, or PKA,

is thought to enhance long-term storage of information.

Drugs that increase the activity of PKA have been thought to enhance memory

consolidation in aged mice and have therefore been proposed as holding

therapeutic value in the treatment of memory deficits in elderly humans.

However, the researchers found that working memory in older animals is impaired

by PKA stimulation and enhanced by PKA inhibition.

A drug that increases PKA activity had little effect in young monkeys but

impaired the prefrontal cortical cognitive performance of aged monkeys.

Impairs cognitive functioning

The results suggest that PKA activation may not be a good strategy for treating

age-related cognitive decline.

They also suggest that inhibiting PKA activity could be a more appropriate

strategy for treating prefrontal cortical cognitive dysfunction in the elderly.

The study is reported in the journal Neuron (read abstract).

2002-2003 Betterhumans

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