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Memory restoration breakthrough offers hope of Alzheimer’s treatment

by Brick ONeil

microscope1.jpgDoctors have made an accidental breakthrough that may unlock how memory works, during experimental brain surgery to control the appetite of an obese man.

The memory stimulation, which could potentially pave the way to treat disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, was an unanticipated side-effect of the treatment for obesity.

Electrodes were pushed deep into the man’s brain, in this case to an area called the hypothalmus, thought to control appetite, and stimulated with an electric current.

Instead of suppressing the 30-stone patient’s hunger, the experimental technique of deep brain stimulation (DBS) unlocked vivid memories of an experience 30 years earlier.

The surprising result has raised the possibility of a ‘pacemaker’ for the brain and a pilot study for patients with early Alzheimer’s disease is now under way.

Lead researcher Professor Andres Lozano, of the Toronto Western Hospital, said: “This is a single case that was totally unexpected.

He said that once his team planted the electrodes, memory activity was most intense near a structure called the fornix, a grouping of fibres that carries signals within the limbic system, which is involved in memory and emotions and is situated next to the hypothalmus.

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alzheimers, brain surgery, obesity

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