SAN FRANCISCO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- In an unprecedented study, scientists of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) completely reversed learning and memory impairments in mice following traumatic brain injuries (TBI), the Washington Post and Engadget news website reported Tuesday.
The UCSF scientists used an experimental drug known as ISRIB, which surprisingly fully restored the ability to learn and remember in the brain-injured mice even though they were not immediately treated after injury, according to the study published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.
Contrary to the established theory that treatments must be initiated as quickly as possible to preserve normal brain function, the mice were first treated as much as a month after injury, making the results particularly striking.
"In general, animals with these injuries never learn well again," co-senior author Susanna Rosi, a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, told the UCSF News Center.
"So it's remarkable that ISRIB could restore the ability to form new memories even when we delayed giving the drug for four weeks after the injury. This has not been considered possible," she said.
After injecting ISRIB into brain-injured mice, researchers found that the drug boosted their ability to find their way out of a water maze. And their ability to learn persisted a week after their last injection.
"This is extraordinarily exciting," said Peter Walter, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the UCSF and co-senior author of the new study. "We think that ISRIB may uncover an untapped reservoir in the brain that allows damaged memory circuits to be repaired."
Scientists say the new research is a surprising, yet promising, start. It could someday lead to treatments for TBI in humans, which affects nearly two million individuals annually in the United States.
