Traumatic Brain Injury: Memory Loss Caused By Brain Damage is Reversible

The brain damage caused by degenerative brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's, might soon be reversible with drug treatment. A new study suggests that "memory loss" might not actually be a permanent loss; instead, memories may simply be inaccessible because of blocked neural pathways.

Memory Loss Caused By Brain Damage Is Reversible

Mice suffering from the type of brain damage usually seen in dementia patients were used in experiments. After undergoing a period of "rehabilitation," the mice were able to remember how to perform tasks that they had forgotten when the brain damage set in. Similar regenerative results also were seen with drug use. Although there is no promise that these techniques will work in humans, the results are promising. Lead author Li-Huei Tsai said that the results raise "the possibility of recovering long-term memories in patients."