A new study at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) has shed light on the frustrating experience of forgetting a person’s face after only speaking with them hours earlier. This type of memory decline is common with age, but the reason for it is still not fully understood. The study, published in Aging Cell, offers some valuable insights into this dysfunction.
Research identifies target for potentially developing new therapies to treat age-related cognitive decline.
One of the most upsetting aspects of age-related memory decline is not being able to remember the face that accompanies the name of a person you just talked with hours earlier. While researchers don’t understand why this dysfunction occurs, a new study conducted at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) has provided some important new clues. The study was published recently in the journal Aging Cell.
Using aging mice, researchers have identified a new mechanism in neurons that causes memories associated with these social interactions to decline with age. In addition, they were able to reverse this memory loss in the lab.
The researchers report that their findings identified a specific target in the brain that may one day be used to develop therapies that could prevent or reverse memory loss due to typical aging. Aging memory problems are distinct from those caused by diseases like Alzheimer’s