Hope for memory repair in dementia sufferers

A BRAIN switch behind memory loss has been identified by scientists.

Turning it back on could combat Alzheimer’s and other age-related neurological disorders.

The system lies in the hippocampus – the memory control centre of the brain – and its discovery sheds fresh light on the causes of dementia.

Professor James Knierim, of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, said: “We are trying to understand normal memory and why a part of the brain called the hippocampus is so critical for normal memory.

“But also with many memory disorders, something is going wrong with this area.”

The mechanism described in the study, Current Biology, lies in a tiny region named CA3. It lies deep in the brain’s temporal lobe, within the hippocampus.

It helps us recognise patterns, influencing the fine balance between pattern separation and completion operations – and, consequently, learning and memory.

When they swing out of balance memory becomes impaired, causing symptoms like forgetfulness or repeating oneself.

The US team found that, as the brain ages, this imbalance may be caused by the loss of CA3.

In this latest study of how memory impairment occurs might allow scientists to better target drugs toward the deficits.

Lead author and assistant research scientist Heekyung Lee said: “It would give us better control of where we could possibly target the deficits that we see.”

The number of people worldwide with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia will triple by 2050 because of ageing populations.

There are 920,000 sufferers in the UK, a figure that will reach two million in the next three decades.