Stem cells help rescue memory in mice

U.S. scientists say neural stem cells helped rescue memory in mice with Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds the stem cells in mice predisposed to form plaques and tangles — the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease — did not affect the plaques and tangles, but improved cognitive function by facilitating more neural connections.

If you look at Alzheimer’s, it’s not the plaques and tangles that correlate best with dementia; it’s the loss of synapses — connections between neurons, study lead author Mathew Blurton-Jones of the University of California, Irvine, says in a statement. The neural stem cells were helping the brain form new synapses and nursing the injured neurons back to health.

The researchers report 6 percent of the stem cells used on the mice turned into neurons. Cognition improved as the stem cells secreted a protein called BDNF that caused existing tissue to sprout neurites — a developing neuron that can form into a axon or a dendrite.

Essentially, the cells were producing fertilizer for the brain, study co-author Frank LaFerla said.