Dr Mark Dallas

Lecturer in cellular and molecular neuroscience at the University of Reading

これはエキサイティングな研究です。すぐに認知症患者のために新しい治療法につながるとはいえませんが、ＡＤなどのような記憶喪失症状についての理解が進むでしょう。今回使われた技術をヒトでテストするのは難しく、患者に適用するにはまだ遠い道のりですが、脳科学の可能性を広げたといってもいいと思います。

原文

“This is an exciting study, and while it is unlikely to lead to new treatments for dementia patients any time soon, it should help scientists understand more about the memory loss symptoms associated with diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

“This builds on previous research showing that while people with Alzheimer’s still retain memories, their brains have problems accessing them.

“In a mouse model of Alzheimer’s the results illustrate the potential to reconnect nerve cells to retrieve previously learnt behaviours, although only in the short term.

“While this is a robust piece of science, it uses techniques that would be difficult to test on people. It does open up possibilities for scientists to ‘unlock’ brain connections to reveal memories, but it may be a step too far to translate this into human patients. Only time will tell.

“Our hope is that this will inform scientists as we look to understand why memory loss is one symptom of Alzheimer’s Disease, and provide better ways to manage it.”

Dr Simon Ridley

Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK

本研究は技術的に難しいものだったでしょうが、ＡＤのような疾患がどのように悪化していくのかを解明する出発点になったと思います。今回の経過や結果をヒトに当てはめたり、ＡＤの進行にどのような影響があるのかを見極めたりできるようになるのはまだ先のことでしょう。実験で使われたマウスには毒性タンパク質の増加といったＡＤに見られる他の特徴は観察されませんでしたし、これらの変化は正常な神経細胞の機能に影響を与える可能性があると思います。

記憶喪失はＡＤで良く知られた症状ではありますが、この病気は他にも人格、行動、およびコミュニケーションなどに重大な影響を与えます。認知症患者やその家族に、できるだけ早く、今回の知見を利点としてもたらすようにしなくてはなりません。

原文

“This technically challenging study tells us more about the mechanisms underpinning memory and provides a useful starting point to understand how this process can go wrong in diseases like Alzheimer’s. The findings suggest that early memory problems in mice with features of Alzheimer’s could be driven by problems retrieving stored memories rather than laying down those memories in the first place. While the findings raise intriguing questions about whether it’s possible to recover lost memories, there is a long way to go to understand this process in people and how it’s affected over the course of a disease like Alzheimer’s. The mice in this study had not started to develop some of the other key features of Alzheimer’s, such as the build-up of toxic proteins, and these changes are also likely to impact on normal nerve cell function.”

“Memory loss is a well-recognised symptom of Alzheimer’s, but the disease can also have profound effects on personality, behaviour, and communication.

It’s important to understand more about the mechanisms driving these symptoms to better understand how to develop approaches to help those living with dementia. Research to address fundamental questions about the biology of the brain and how it’s affected in Alzheimer’s is crucial, and we must ensure this knowledge is translated into benefits for people with dementia and their families as quickly as possible.”