October 23, 2019
Working memory is an important part of our short-term memory. Our working memory allows us to remember and then use important information while in the middle of a task, such a dialing a phone number or making a recipe. Unfortunately for patients with schizophrenia, impaired working memory is one of the core symptoms of the condition. Unlike auditory hallucinations and paranoia, (other schizophrenia symptoms that have available treatment options,) there is no current treatment for restoring working memory.
Using mice, a team of researchers from Columbia University have been looking for ways to treat this symptom. They have focused on a gene that had previously been linked to schizophrenia called SETD1A, which plays a role in regulating other genes. Mice with impaired SETD1A show memory deficiencies, and their neurons in the prefrontal cortex were short and malformed.
The team discovered another gene called LSD1 that regulates SETD1A. When they gave the mice medication that switched the LSD1 gene off they observed an improvement in the working memory and neurons of the mice. The LSD1 inhibitor medication is already undergoing clinical trials for treating some forms of cancer. Further studies will be required before it can be determined if this treatment is effective in human patients with their working memory affected by schizophrenia, but it certainly is an important step for schizophrenia research.
Source: Medical Xpress
Read more: http://ow.ly/I9ZU50wN0tZ
