Breakthrough in Alzheimer's

[Topaz]

The U of Lethbridge, has had a breakthrough in Alzheimer's by regrowning adult brain cells in mice, after trying for five years. Hopefully, in the near future, they will bwe able to do the same for humans. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/100731/canada/canada_calgary_cgy_alzheimers_breakthrough

[Sir Bandelot]

Excellent, that there's hope for people like Shady to grow a brain as well.

[Smallc]

Seriously though, this is excellent news. As I've said in the past, over the last few years, a great deal has been coming together in terms of medical science.

[Remiel]

I am not that familiar with how diseases like Alzheimer's work, but would regrowing brain cells lead to being able to access the old memories, or would it be more the case that Alzheimer's, post-treatment, would still be like remaking yourself after amnesia? Of course, that question is only really relevant for those who are treated while having full blown Alzheimer's, rather than those treated when they have the early symptoms...

[Bonam]

An interesting breakthrough. I think the applications of being able to grow/regrow brain cells are quite interesting, and will likely reach far beyond just treating Alzheimer's.

I am not that familiar with how diseases like Alzheimer's work, but would regrowing brain cells lead to being able to access the old memories, or would it be more the case that Alzheimer's, post-treatment, would still be like remaking yourself after amnesia? Of course, that question is only really relevant for those who are treated while having full blown Alzheimer's, rather than those treated when they have the early symptoms...

Certainly an interesting question. I think probably beyond any of us here to answer definitively unless we have some neuroscientists on this board. My guess would be that memories lost in relatively late stages of Alzheimer's could not be recovered. From the wikipedia article:

Alzheimer's disease is characterised by loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions. This loss results in gross atrophy of the affected regions, including degeneration in the temporal lobe and parietal lobe, and parts of the frontal cortex and cingulate gyrus.[34] Studies using MRI and PET have documented reductions in the size of specific brain regions in patients as they progressed from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease, and in comparison with similar images from healthy older adults.[55]

With the brain structures storing the memory physically gone, it seems unlikely that the particular memories that used to be stored in those structures could be recovered to any great degree.

Edited August 1, 2010 by Bonam

[Guest American Woman]

The U of Lethbridge, has had a breakthrough in Alzheimer's by regrowning adult brain cells in mice, after trying for five years. Hopefully, in the near future, they will bwe able to do the same for humans. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/100731/canada/canada_calgary_cgy_alzheimers_breakthrough

Sounds as if the same research/results has occured in the States: Alzheimer's breakthrough: A chemical to make brain cells grow

I wonder if there is any consultation that goes on between researchers? Seems as if that would really speed up the progress in this type of research.

It doesn't sound as if the new cells recall old memories, which makes sense, so major problems could still exist, I would think.

[Moonlight Graham]

Thought i read about something like this within the last year or something.

Too bad its too late for my Nana, she's a frightened & confused veg in a long-term care home. What a incredibly horrific disease. Probably the very last way i'd choose to die.

I love you Nana.

[Remiel]

Thought i read about something like this within the last year or something.

Too bad its too late for my Nana, she's a frightened & confused veg in a long-term care home. What a incredibly horrific disease. Probably the very last way i'd choose to die.

I love you Nana.

I am not sure how I feel about it... I think if I were to be afflicted with Alzheimer's I would, for one, take the idea from Memento of having the most important things I needed to know tattooed on me. It is the one record that I would never be able to misplace.

[Topaz]

I saw my mother-inlaw die from this disease and she was 57 and one of the first people around here to have it and much wasn't know that much about it then. By the time she was 60, she had to go into a nursing home because she would wander, almost set the house on fire, she thought her hubby was having affair with he woman down the street etc. Going into a home I think that made her worse with depression because she didn't want to go. She ended up a veg, so we thought, but the day her son went to tell her his father, her husband has died, he thought she understood and she died a month later after, being there for 16 years. Another sad disease to die from, I rare have cancer and die faster.

[Wild Bill]

I am not that familiar with how diseases like Alzheimer's work, but would regrowing brain cells lead to being able to access the old memories, or would it be more the case that Alzheimer's, post-treatment, would still be like remaking yourself after amnesia? Of course, that question is only really relevant for those who are treated while having full blown Alzheimer's, rather than those treated when they have the early symptoms...

From what I've read over the years, scientists are agreed that memory is NOT stored in individual brain cells! It's not like it's written on little bits of neurons stacked up like books in a library within the brain.

Rather, memory is an overall pattern imposed on large sections of the brain as a whole, like a hologram. The information that allows a hologram to make a 3d picture is also stored as a large overall pattern in some physical media like a crystal or film on a glass. If you break the media in two both pieces will reproduce the entire image. If you keep breaking into smaller pieces you don't really lose the image as a whole but instead the definition or clarity of the image will begin to get poorer and poorer, till the image becomes so fuzzy as to be unusable.

I remember reading that scientists cut away large portions of animal brains before memory began to be impaired. There was no one piece that held one specific memory.

So if an Alzheimer's patient still had enough functioning brain cells all memories could still be there. The problem might be in accessing and processing the information. Adding enough new healthy cells to the mix might restore those functions, along with ALL the memories!

Of course, we won't really know for sure until the premise is tested but there is surely grounds for hope!

[Remiel]

Oh, it was with the connectivist theories of brain function in mind that I made my comment. That sort of stuff comes up in philosophy of cognitive science.

[August1991]

From the OP:

EDMONTON (CBC) - Scientists at the University of Lethbridge say they have successfully regrown adult brain cells in tests on mice, a breakthrough that could lead to treatment of neural diseases such as Alzheimer's.

"We're pretty excited by it," said Dr. Robert Sutherland...

I guess the word "breakthrough", at least at the CBC, has suffered from inflation.

I wonder if there is any consultation that goes on between researchers? Seems as if that would really speed up the progress in this type of research.

Uh, wasn't that the original Internet?

[Smallc]

From the OP:I guess the word "breakthrough", at least at the CBC, has suffered from inflation.

Really? You don't consider this to be a breakthrough? Why am I not surprised?

[Guest American Woman]

American Woman, on 01 August 2010 - 08:41 PM, said: I wonder if there is any consultation that goes on between researchers? Seems as if that would really speed up the progress in this type of research.

Uh, wasn't that the original Internet?

??

[bloodyminded]

Thought i read about something like this within the last year or something.

Too bad its too late for my Nana, she's a frightened & confused veg in a long-term care home. What a incredibly horrific disease. Probably the very last way i'd choose to die.

I love you Nana.

My grandmother, who was my hero, was afficted as well. It's a heartbreaking condition, just terrible.

If it's any consolation, she strangely regained a lot of clarity in her last couple of days, which was wonderful.

[August1991]

Really? You don't consider this to be a breakthrough? Why am I not surprised?

Smallc, you should note the key words that even the CBC report includes: " ... could lead to... "

[Smallc]

And? What about it. It's still a breakthrough.

[Guest American Woman]

And? What about it. It's still a breakthrough.

Not really. What he's saying is that could be a breakthrough. If it ultimately leads to nothing, it's not a breakthrough.

[Smallc]

Yes, it in fact is a break though. We now know that brain cells can be regrown. In theory, this can be done in humans as well. Even if it can't using this method, this is a breakthrough. Further, we now know that regrowing brain cells appears to restore mental function to previous mental levels. That's really its own breakthrough right there. Breakthroughs don't always involve finding an immediate treatment or cure.

The definition of breakthrough:

break·through (brkthr)

n.

1. An act of overcoming or penetrating an obstacle or restriction.

2. A military offensive that penetrates an enemy's lines of defense.

3. A major achievement or success that permits further progress, as in technology.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/breakthrough

Edited August 2, 2010 by Smallc

[Guest TrueMetis]

Not really. What he's saying is that could be a breakthrough. If it ultimately leads to nothing, it's not a breakthrough.

The have a way to regrow brain cells, of course that's a breakthrough. Even if it doesn't end up as useful to treat Alzheimer's it will be useful in something.

[Wild Bill]

The have a way to regrow brain cells, of course that's a breakthrough. Even if it doesn't end up as useful to treat Alzheimer's it will be useful in something.

I should think Michael J Fox would be interested...

[Guest American Woman]

The have a way to regrow brain cells, of course that's a breakthrough. Even if it doesn't end up as useful to treat Alzheimer's it will be useful in something.

Since the title of the thread is "Breakthrough in Alzheimer's," and the title of the article is "Alberta scientists see Alzheimer's breakthrough," if it doesn't end up as useful to treat Alzheimer's, it isn't a breakthrough in Alzheimer's. Which, I believe, was the point being made.

Edited August 2, 2010 by American Woman

[August1991]

Yes, it in fact is a break though.

According to you. According to the CBC, it could lead to a breakthrough.

I suspect that researchers in Lethbridge and elsewhere have been using the Internet for decades to exchange their knowledge of this. To me, the question is why the CBC chose to announce now this "breakthrough" that "could lead" to changes.

----

Answer: CBC journalists are in a save-the-world, help-us-all mindframe, when they're not in an evil-forces are destroying-us-all mindframe.

Invariably, in CBC world, governments (specifically progressive Canadian federal bureaucrats, or people they finance) are helping and protecting us. Evul Corporations and the Neo_Cons are destroying us.

[Smallc]

uhhh, the CBC isn't the only news organization that reported this. Nice try though.

[Guest American Woman]

I suspect that researchers in Lethbridge and elsewhere have been using the Internet for decades to exchange their knowledge of this.

You think so? You think researchers, who want to be the one to make a major breakthrough, who are in competition for grants, are willingly routinely sharing their research results on the internet with other researchers who are working on the same projects?

I really question that.