More on Learning and Alzheimer's
EurekAlert! brings us more on the search for biochemical mechanisms linking learning with a slower progression of Alzheimer's disease: "This study with genetically modified mice is the first to show that short but repeated learning sessions can slow a process known for causing the protein beta amyloid to clump in the brain and form plaques, which disrupt communication between cells and lead to symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Learning also was found to slow the buildup of hyperphosphorylated-tau, a protein in the brain that can lead to the development of tangles, the other signature lesion of the disease. Scientists say these findings have large implications for the understanding and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, as it is already known that highly educated individuals are less likely to develop the disease than people with less education." Use it or lose it again. What is the machinery of a more active brain doing differently? Insight at the biochemical level may inform the search for more brute-force therapies and preventions.
Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-01/uoc--lsp011807.php