February 21, 2012

expert reaction to study of mechanism for cognitive enhancement in rats, as published in PLoS Biology

A study in rats, published in the journal PLoS Biology suggested that the compound AMPA might be used as a drug to improve cognitive performance. The SMC gathered reactions.

Mark Baxter, Associate Professor of Neuroscience, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, said:

“These findings are interesting. They suggest a potential means by which connections between nerve cells can be strengthened in the adult brain, resulting in improved memory. It is worth remembering, however, that drugs which improve learning in rats doing tasks like the water maze often don’t improve memory in humans. It will be important to look at effects of the drug in different kinds of memory tasks, and to confirm that memories do not become abnormally persistent – for example, making it difficult to forget unpleasant events.

“Because the drug works by making connections between nerve cells stronger, it is crucial to find out whether it works when nerve cells and the connections between them have been lost, as in Alzheimer’s disease. This could be tested by giving the drug to genetically-modified mice that have similar brain damage to that seen in patients with Alzheimer’s. Studying effects of the drug in nonhuman primates, whose brain structure and cognitive abilities more closely approximate those of humans, will also provide critical information about how it works. All of these experiments remain to be done before this peptide could be tested in humans.”

Professor Geraint Rees, Director, UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, said:

“This is exciting because it links the ability to modify particular types of synapse – the connection between nerve cells – to improved navigational ability. But it is important to remember that there are many differences between rats and humans, and so whether this has promise as a way of enhancing human cognitive abilities remains uncertain”

‘Facilitation of AMPA Receptor Synaptic Delivery as a Molecular Mechanism for Cognitive Enhancement’ by Shira Knafo et al., published in PLoS Biology a on Tuesday 21st February 2012.