
Evidence that Alzheimer’s ‘lost memories’ may one day be recoverable - daegloe
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/03/17/mit-scientists-find-evidence-that-alzheimers-lost-memories-may-one-day-be-recoverable/
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jdpigeon
Seeing this paper is bittersweet for me as I work in a memory neuroscience lab
that's been working on essentially the same question for a number of years.
These guys beat us to the headline :(

That said, it is a great accomplishment for the field. Less so for the
prospect of 'memory-restoring' technology in the near future, but more for
what it says about how memory works. Essentially, this paper (and our work
hopefully coming soon), proves that retrieval cues are the most superficial
aspect of the brain's systems for memory. Thus, they fall first to the ravages
of Alzheimer's and when they're gone, the pattern of information is still
there, but the brain is unable to recall that specific memory when input into
the network is noisy. There's been some other papers recently showing the
persistence of memories even when synapses and spines are lost (for example,
during hibernation). It's as if a record of learning is also stored somewhere
in the cell's genes, but no one seems to really know what to make of it.

Maybe that stuff will also be of interest to neural network people...

All that said, there's now a large-scale study getting started in Canada that
will be stimulating the brains of MCI and AD patients with tDCS to slow down
Alzheimer's (pACT-MD). Maybe they'll be able to recover some those lost
memories!

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ZeroFries
As in the cells store enough information to recreate those synapses when
needed?

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azernik
Not an expert; what I think jdpigeon is referring to, though, is that the
information storage is just fine, even if the indexing mechanisms aren't.

Like recovering data from a broken filesystem - the directory structure is
lost and for a normal usecase the data might as well be gone, but a lot of the
content is theoretically _there_ and recoverable if some indexing system (even
one different from the original) can be created.

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regisg
Perhaps it an be linked to this study : "decapitated worms regrow heads keep
old memories"
[http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/16/decapitated-...](http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/16/decapitated-
worms-regrow-heads-keep-old-memories/)

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chae
I'm a medical student and had to conduct several simple short-term memory
tests (Mini Mental State Examinations, or MMSEs for short) today. It's quite
upsetting for the patient when they don't even know how to spell 'world'
backwards, or can't recall the words "ball car man" that you told them half a
minute earlier. I wonder if this concept will improve both long term and short
term memory, or just the latter?

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mhkool
The article says: Doug Brown, director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society,
cautioned that the technique is not something that can be translated into a
procedure that is safe for the estimated 44 million people worldwide with
dementia just yet. which makes clear that the blue light technology is very
far from being a cure for Alzheimer.

On the other hand, Dr Dale Bredesen has already in a very small study with 10
persons, reversed Alzheimer in 9 of 10 patients. A followup study with 100
persons is not yet finished but preliminary results show "similar results".
The work of Dr Bredesen is mostly unknown but this will likely change in the
near future. The work of Dr Bredesen may start a revolution since he does not
use a traditional medicine but a holistic approach which basically fights
inflammations at all levels possible.

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Dr_tldr
I did some digging into Dr. Bredesen's work and the study you mentioned didn't
have a control group. If you don't have a control group and you're changing
dozens of variables simultaneously, you're not doing science.

This is not to say that his patients don't enjoy some subjective benefits, or
that diet and exercise and mental stimulation aren't helpful, but Dr. Bredesen
cannot have any scientific insight into Alzheimer's until he does an actual
study.

