Study: Memories Lost Can Be Recovered

Share On Social!

Patients with early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, a condition that affects Latinos disproportionately, are often incapable of remembering recent experiences or events. However, a new study by MIT indicates that Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t destroy memories; instead “they just can’t be easily accessed,” Univision reports.

For the study, researchers stimulated specific areas of the brain of lab rats with blue light and found that they were able to access memories they previously couldn’t remember.

“The important point is, this a proof of concept,” said Susumu Tonegawa, lead study author. “That is, even if a memory seems to be gone, it is still there. It’s a matter of how to retrieve it.”

According to the authors, the results of their study show that there’s hope for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

“Because humans and mice tend to have common principles in terms of memory, our findings suggest that patients with Alzheimer’s, at least in its early stages, can preserve the memory in their brains, indicating that they have chances of cure,” Tonegawa told AFP.