A new study found that memories can be restored during hibernation. The findings of the study may pave the way for the development of treatment that can prevent dementia.
Hibernation is a deep sleep that helps animals – fish, frogs, turtles, bears, and bats – preserve energy and survive the winter with less eating. During this process, body temperature drops and heartbeat and breathing are slowed.
Researchers at the MRC Toxicology Unit of the University of Leicester in UK wondered if hibernation can also be employed to prevent the death of human brain cells. Earlier studies have proven that hypothermia or reduction in body temperature, can protect the brain by triggering the production of "cold-shock" proteins like RBM3 which prevent brain cell death.
For the study, researchers brought healthy mice into a state of hibernation by cooling their body temperatures around 17 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes. The cooling caused synapses in the brains of these mice to pull apart and the RBM3 proteins to disappear. But after injecting the mice with artificial RBM3, the proteins worked to prevent synapse and brain cell death.
"We've known for some time that cooling can slow down or even prevent damage to brain cells, but reducing body temperature is rarely feasible in practice: it's unpleasant and involves risks such as pneumonia and blood clots. But, by identifying how cooling activates a process that prevents the loss of brain cells, we can now work towards finding a means to develop drugs that might mimic the protective effects of cold on the brain," said Prof Giovanna Mallucci, from the MRC Toxicology Unit in Leicester.
The study is the first to prevent brain tissue death caused by dementia. The findings showed that hibernation can protect the brain from dementia and that drugs that boost RBM3 can be developed to prevent memory loss without the need for cooling.
The study was published in the Jan. 14 issue of Nature.
