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BOB HIRSHON (host):
Keeping memories connected. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
As we age, we retain our ability to form memories, but lose the ability to link memories together. So we may recognize someone at a party but not remember how we know them. At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, UCLA neurobiologist Alcino Silva described work with aging mice aimed at restoring their ability to connect new memories with related ones stored earlier.
ALCINO SILVA (UCLA):
What we found is that the animals remember each memory, but they cannot link them any longer. And the amazing thing is that we were able to intervene, and by creating an artificial overlap between the groups of cells that were storing each memory, then the animal is able to link both memories again.
HIRSHON:
The goal is to halt age-related memory loss, and treat other cognitive disorders as well. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.
Story by Bob Hirshon