Replayed memories could help Alzheimer’s sufferers

‘This is the first time we have been able to identify a patient’s own brain cell code or pattern for memory’

ALZHEIMER’S sufferers could once again remember the faces of loved ones after scientists developed a way to boost memories.

In a groundbreaking pilot study, US researchers recorded memories as they were formed and then played them back into the brains of 10 patients. They found that it increased memory performance by up to 37 per cent.

The study was funded by US Department of Defense’s military research department (Darpa), and focused on improving episodic memory, which is the most common type of memory loss in people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, strokes and head injuries.

Episodic memory is information that is new and useful for a short period of time, such as where a car is parked or keys are left.

“This is the first time scientists have been able to identify a patient’s own brain cell code or pattern for memory and, in essence, write in that code to make existing memory work better, an important first step in potentially restoring memory loss,” said Dr Robert Hampson, professor of physiology/ pharmacology and neurology at Wake Forest Baptist Health, North Carolina.

“In the future, we hope to be able to help people hold on to specific memories, such as where they live or what their grandkids look like, when their overall memory begins to fail.”

Around 850,000 people are suffering from dementia in Britain, two thirds with Alzheimer’s disease.

For the new study, researchers enrolled 10 epilepsy patients who were already participating in a separate experiment mapping their brains.

The participants were asked to study a simple image – such as a coloured block – while their brain activity was recorded. Scientists then blanked the screen and asked them to choose the correct image from five options.

They found that when they asked people to remember, while playing back the recorded memory into the hippocampus region of their brains, performance improved by 37 per cent.

In a second test, participants were shown a distinctive photograph, then asked to identify it out of four or five others on the screen 75 minutes later. Playing back the recorded memories boosted recall by 35 per cent.

Dr James Pickett, the head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Future tests using this method in people with Alzheimer’s could represent a vitally needed new form of treatment.

“With no new drug for dementia in the past 15 years, and one person developing the condition every three minutes, it’s more urgent than ever to find new ways to treat the condition. These kind of ‘first-in-human’ studies are important stepping stones to understanding how we make memories.”

The research was published in the Journal of Neural Engineering.