Alzheimer's Patients May Be Able To Recover 'Lost' Memories

 "MIT neuroscientists reported in the journal Nature that mice in the early stages of Alzheimer’s can form new memories just as well as normal mice, but cannot recall them a few days later. But they were able to artificially stimulate those memories using a technique known as optogenetics, planting the idea that those memories could still be retrieved with a little help. While optogenetics cannot currently be used in humans, the findings raise the hope — and possibility — that future treatments might indeed reverse some of the memory loss in early-stage Alzheimer’s patients, the researchers say. “The important point is, this a proof of concept. That is, even if a memory seems to be gone, it is still there. It’s a matter of how to retrieve it,” says senior author Susumu Tonegawa from RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics, in a press release."

Alzheimer's Patients May Be Able To Recover 'Lost' Memories