Hormone detection helps recall memory

A new study on elderly people said that feel-good hormone (a hormone that makes you happy) helps to recall memory.

>>>New hope for Alzheimer's patients

Hormone (hormones) dopamine helps improve long-term memory. This is a new finding by a group of researchers led by Emrah Düzel - neuroscientist at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and Magdeburg University - ScienceDaily on November 8, 2012.

The researchers investigated different test subjects, aged between 65 and 75, who received a dopamine precursor. The results showed that those treated were better at a memory test than those who received placebo.

A placebo is a substance that does not have a therapeutic effect, but is given the pharmaceutical form and introduced to the patient by the physician as a therapeutic effect. It could be a candy, distilled water, physiological saline . The placebo is different from fake medicine, because counterfeit drugs are fake, counterfeit goods . The placebo is made with the same shape and taste that it alternative to experimental comparison. This comparative comparison helps to accurately assess the effectiveness of the drug.

This study provides new insights into the formation of long-term memory and helps explain why memories fade faster after the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

The results are published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Dopamine is a multi-faceted neurotransmitter that functions to create a sense of excitement in the brain. It provides communication between nerve cells as well as between nerve cells and muscle cells. If this signal transmission is malfunctioning, the consequences can be very terrible. As for Parkinson's patients, people with akinesia symptoms and other movement disorders - caused by a lack of dopamine. On the other hand, when someone is satisfied or motivated, a line of dopamine is released in the brain, which is why the term "feel-good hormone" has become popular.

There have been indications of the special role of dopamine in forming long-term memories for a while. The signs are the result of various studies and also from the fact that incidents and other important events can be remembered for a long time. Researchers led by Düzel, who is also affiliated with University College London, were able to confirm these effects are true in the elderly.

"Our investigation for the first time demonstrated that dopamine affects short-term memory. This is a part of long-term memory, which allows us to recall true events. Occurrences. that we have directly participated in, " said Düzel. " Short-term memory is part of our memory capacity and Alzheimer's disease affects our short-term memory first. This is why our results contribute to a better understanding of the disease."

Detailed animal studies have shown that in order to permanently store experiences the brain must release dopamine.

Düzel and colleagues examined whether this happened in humans. They tested the ability of 65 to 75-year-old subjects to recognize with images that these subjects had previously seen. Half of the participants received a placebo and the rest received Levodopa. This substance, also called L-DOPA, reaches the brain from the blood, and is converted into dopamine in the brain. In this way, researchers can create a targeted effect through dopamine levels in the brains of test subjects.

"The neurons that produce dopamine decline with age," Düzel said. "Increasing the level of dopamine in the elderly, should show a clear effect" . Neuroscientists mention another reason for conducting research with older people: "In the old age of short-term memory decreased, this is why the topic we are investigating is especially suitable for Elderly'.

First-time participants were shown black-and-white photographs of indoor scenes and landscapes. They will have to distinguish these photos from other photos they have never seen before. Brain activity images during the first viewing of participants' photos will be monitored using fMRT, a special form of magnetic resonance tomography. These photos almost do not activate activities in the memory center, where neuroscientists are paying special attention.

The reason is: If the brain area is only slightly active it will cause little or no release of dopamine. In this case the memories of those photos will fade gradually.'When they are weakly encoded, we want to find out if the memory of those photos may still exist , ' Düzel said.

Two to six hours after the participants memorized the photos, they were asked to identify and distinguish them from the new image.

During the two-hour test, there were no significant differences between those who had been taking Levodopa and those who took placebo. However, after 6 hours the memory performance has changed. The test subjects with Levodopa realized 20% more photos than the rest. The ratio between the amount of Levodopa and the body weight of the test subject proved to be decisive with an optimal dose. " This confirms our assumption that dopamine contributes to remembering memories in the brain on an eternal basis. You can say it improves the chances of survival of memories." "Our research also shows that the existence of memory can be adjusted, regardless of how strongly it was originally encoded. This is a new finding."

But why does the effect appear only after six hours? Düzel sees the cause in the way the brain records memories."When memories are encoded, certain changes take place at the nerve endings, or synapses , " he explained. "This activation is however only temporary, and then the state of the synapses changes again, unless dopamine is available so that newly formed synapses can be stable for a long time." .

According to neurologists, tests after two hours must still take place during the short-term synaptic activation period. Therefore, both groups of test subjects had similarly good results. However, at a later time, the memories of placebo users began to fade. At this time the effect of dopamine is noticeable with other test subjects.

In this study, participants used dopamine precursors before remembering. Finding that the existence of memories that can be affected independently of strong or weak memory encoding cannot open the way for further research. In addition, this study has given thought to the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia.