Doping for memory: insulin-like growth factor
The brain creates a cure for memory
Neuroscientists have studied a protein that improves intellectual abilities and helps to assimilate new information
Alla Solodova, Infox.ruMemory and mental abilities can be developed independently.
For example, solving mathematical or chemical problems, memorizing poems or just having fun with puzzles. However, not every brain is capable of such feats. Neuroscientists explain that one desire and a morphologically complete brain is not enough to memorize new information and confidently operate on it – the necessary proteins and RNA. It is they who "digest and preserve" knowledge in neurons, translating short-term memory into long-term memory. The process (memory consolidation) occurs in the hippocampal neurons.
There is a protein in the complex system of the molecular genetic foundation of mental abilities, which, according to scientists, should be one of the components of a good memory. At least it (insulin-like growth factor-2, IGF-2) is present in brain cells at all stages of the development of the nervous system. And the largest number of IGF-2 is registered in the hippocampus of an adult. That is, in a structure that "assimilates" knowledge and, if necessary, gives it out. It is also important that the level of IGF-2 decreases significantly by old age.
Memory ProteinResearchers from universities in the USA and Spain, led by Dr. Dillon. Y. Chen from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, part of New York University, studied the role of IGF-2 in the processes of "digestion" and "preservation" of new information.
For the experiment, the scientists used rats that gain knowledge about the environment through fear (pain). For example, a rat will bury its nose in a feeder and, after trying carrots, will receive an electric shock. After several painful meals, the animal remembers that it is impossible to eat from this feeder.
According to this principle, scientists model "experimental lessons", during which reliable long-term memory is formed in animals. And Dillon Chen and his colleagues not only intimidated (trained) rodents, but also measured the level of IGF-2. It turned out that in the first 6-9 hours after training, the level of IGF-2 in the hippocampus of mice remains more or less constant. But 20 hours after the "exercises", the number of IGF-2 increases sharply. This also happens in the following hours. However, memorization at the molecular level lasts no more than four days, as evidenced by previous experiments.
In the following experiment, the scientists used highly specific compounds that block IGF-2 in hippocampal cells. After training, while the level of the "memory protein" exceeded the normative indicators, the experimenters injected animals with the selective blocker IGF-2. As expected, the animals' brains were unable to store the new information. So neuroscientists have concluded that IGF-2 plays a key role in memory consolidation.
Doping for the brainDillon Chen and colleagues tried to improve the memory of rodents with a direct injection of IGF-2.
It turned out that the growth factor not only improves long-term memory, but also prevents forgetting. Moreover, the positive effect of protein is proportional to the volume of injection. That is, the fuller the syringe, the better the memory after such an injection. In an article published in the journal Nature (A critical role for IGF-II in memory consolidation and enhancement), scientists describe the molecular genetic and cellular mechanisms that ensure memory improvement through IGF-2.
"We think that the results obtained will be useful for therapy aimed at improving memory and for the treatment of patients with dementia or other cognitive impairments," the researchers write in the article.
So far, the results obtained can be perceived as a molecular confirmation of the effectiveness of pedagogical techniques. So, if you need to learn a poem or words of a foreign language, then the new material should be repeated the next day. By this time, the amount of "memory protein" in the hippocampus will increase and the brain will work as if the hippocampus has been doped. It turns out that if a person regularly strains his brain, then he independently feeds memory: more new knowledge means more protein, which helps to assimilate information.
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01.02.2011