New Memory Boosting Chemical Discovered: Mice Receive Brain Boost

Want to improve your memory? You may just need to have an injection. Scientists have discovered that memory improved in mice that were injected with a chemical that was discovered by UCSF researchers.

Finding the chemical wasn't easy. It was singled out from among 100,000 chemicals that were screened for their potential to perturb a protective biochemical pathway within cells that is activated when cells are unable to keep up with the need to fold proteins into their working forms. The chemical acts within the cell beyond the biochemical pathway that activates this folded protein response, though. It more broadly impacts what is known as the integrated stress response. In this response, several biochemical pathways converge on a single molecular lynchpin, a protein called elF2 alpha.

"Among other things, the inactivation of eIF2 alpha is a brake on memory consolidation," said Peter Walter, one of the researchers, in a news release. This is possibly an evolutionary consequence of a cell or organism becoming better able to adapt in other ways.

The chemical itself is called ISRIB, which stands for integrated stress response inhibitor. In order to test this new chemical, the researchers injected it into mice before testing their memories. In one memory test, normal mice were able to relocate a submerged platform about three times faster after receiving injections as opposed to mice that hadn't received any. In addition, the mice that received the chemical also better remembered cues associated with unpleasant smell.

"It appears that the process of evolution has not optimized memory consolidation; otherwise, I don't think we could have improved upon it the way we did in our study with normal, healthy mice," said Walter in a news release.

The findings could eventually lead to drugs that could be targeted in humans to improve memory. This, in turn, could help those with diseases such as Alzheimer's.

The findings are published in the journal eLife.