Training Schedules

Reversing memory loss

April 19, 2013

Aplysia californica (credit: Nordelch/Wikimedia Commons)

Neuroscientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have reversed memory loss in sea-snail nerve cells by by retraining them on optimized training schedules.

This may be a major step in helping people with memory loss tied to brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers suggest.

“Although much works remains to be done, we have demonstrated the feasibility of our new strategy to help overcome memory deficits,” said as well as

This latest study builds on a 2012 investigation by John “Jack” Byrne, Ph.D., the study’s senior author, that pioneered this memory enhancement strategy. He is also director of the W.M. Keck Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and chairman of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the UTHealth Medical School.

The 2012 study showed a significant increase in long-term memory in healthy sea snails called Aplysia californica, an animal that has a simple nervous system, but with cells having properties similar to other more advanced species including humans./.../