Canada Brain Power

Tag: SickKids Hospîtal

  • The cellular secret of how memories are made, and lost

    The cellular secret of how memories are made, and lost

    From: SickKids news

    Scientists use a peptide to strengthen connections between brain cells and restore memory in a pre-clinical model.

    Research led at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is illuminating the mechanism underlying memory, which could result in future therapeutic targets for conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. 

    Alzheimer’s disease is a condition that causes memory loss, characterized by the accumulation of a protein, called A-beta, in the brain that damages neurons and their connections.

    Published in Nature Neuroscience, Drs. Paul Frankland and Sheena Josselyn, Senior Scientists in the Neurosciences & Mental Health program, used a peptide to block adverse effects of the accumulation of A-beta in pre-clinical models – a technique that showed promise in restoring memory.

    (more…)

  • Study first to examine how early memory changes as we age at a cellular level

    Study first to examine how early memory changes as we age at a cellular level

    SickKids researchers discover that a matrix called the perineuronal net may be responsible for why human memories become more specific throughout childhood.

    How do our brains become capable of creating specific memories? In one of the first preclinical studies to examine memory development in youth, a research team at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) may have identified a molecular cause for memory changes in early childhood. (more…)