Monday, October 3, 2011

Do you remember?

Scientists, in a recent article, have discovered that  Alzheimer's disease could be caused by the amount of kibra.  Kibra is a protein that plays a role in synaptic function to the brain. The researchers studied adult mice with different levels of kibra to see the affects. The Hopkins researchers' results showed that mice with normal levels of kibra differed extremely from other mice with low levels of kibra. The mice with lower levels of kibra never learned to measure fear from conditional learning. This showed that the mice had problems remembering actions and therefore can lead to certain diseases, like Alzheimer's disease. The gene that codes for this protein synthesis has the same function and location in humans.  Also, this protein helps regulate the AMPA receptors from inside the brain to the different synapses of the nerve cells.  Since, these genes are also located in humans this could lead to why some people remember everything where others have trouble remember what day it is. If scientists can find a way to synthesis this protein artificially then this could lead to a cure for dementia. I liked this article because they gave a lot of information about the study and it was easy to follow the produce that was executed. Also, the logic behind their hypothesis made a lot of sense and was represented well.  

4 comments:

  1. With having a member of the family suffer from Alzheimer's Disease, I always enjoy to see that research is still being conducted to try to help patients that suffer from the disease. The ability to remember information is tough and can be overwhelming for people who suffer from it, so any new leads that can solve the problem can be beneficial.

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  2. Hopefully, scientists will find a cure to this disease by synthesizing this protein known as kibra.
    It's horrible to see my patients each and everyday at the pharmacy with this tragic disease. It's truly sad to watch individuals live their lives not knowing whats going on, while its also extremely heartbreaking for their loved ones as well.

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  3. This is a very interesting article. In my opinion, diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer's are two of the worst diseases to have. It is good to know that scientists are working on and finding breakthroughs in this area. Even for people who don't have these diseases but have poor memories, this research will be helpful.

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  4. I wouldn't have thought that learning to "measure fear from conditional learning" would be a factor in remembering how to perform actions.

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