“When we are
born most of the neurons are there, however, they are not wired completely. The
wiring takes place during the postnatal period and is experience dependent,” Dr.
Dumas, said.
Dr. Dumas is an
Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Neuroscience at the Krasnow
Institute, running his lab PBNJ (Physiological Behavior in Neuroscience in Juveniles)
at George Mason University to study how the postnatal brain develops in
different environments. Dr. Dumas mentioned that they are trying to better
understand how the hippocampus develops in rats and findings to congenial disorders, which involve learning deficits.
The hippocampus,
which is known as the GPS of our mind, is responsible for storing and
retrieving memories. By the age of three weeks, rats can perform sensory
discrimination and motor coordination tasks, however their hippocampi are not fully
developed to perform spatial learning. Hence, to understand that spatial
learning is dependent on Hippocampus, rats were tested in special Y mazes. The
rats with no hippocampal damage had high alternation rates as opposed to ones
whose hippocampus was damaged and lower alteration rates. Moreover,
when rats were treated with the drug, ampakines, alternation increased proving
that ampakines facilitates learning and memory. Therefore hippocampus was
functioning effectively.
In
addition, the eyelids of rats were opened 4 days prior to when it would have
normally opened up, and experimented that visual enrichment is a significant
aspect in cognitive learning.
Glutamate
is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, which involves
mostly in functions of cognition, learning, and memory. It has been shown that
reduced levels of glutamate is found in Alzheimer’s patient. Ampakines, as a glutamate modulator,
has been a treatment for disorders involving memory deficits. Is it
possible that we have the ability to test the decreased level of glutamate
level in people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and treat them with such
drugs to enhance memory and learning?
Citations:
Hippocampus: http://morphonix.com/software/education/science/brain/game/specimens/hippocampus.html
Y-maze:http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatsAndMazes.htm
