How drugs can help your brain encode memories

Medical researchers at the University of Bristol have uncovered a fundamental mechanism that explains the interaction between brain state and the neural triggers responsible for learning. The discoveries, made by researchers in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Co., could lead to new ways of boosting cognitive function to counteract the effects of diseases such as Alzheimer's, as well as enhancing memory in healthy people. The findings, published today in the journals Nature and Cerebral Cortex , identify fundamental processes occurring at the microscopic connections between nerve cells, which involve an exquisite regulation of calcium ions by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This neurotransmitter is released in the brain during learning and is critical for the acquisition of new memories. Currently, the only effective treatment for the symptoms of cognitive or memory impairment seen in diseases such as Alzheimer's is through the use of drugs that boost the amount of acetylcholine release. Lead researcher Dr Jack Mellor , from Bristol's Centre for Synaptic Plasticity , said: 'These findings are about the fundamental processes that occur in the brain during the encoding of memory and how they may be regulated by brain state or drugs for the treatment of dementia.