Sleep-Deprived Memories Restored by Common Medications
Summary: Researchers have found that sleep deprivation can hide, rather than erase, memories in mice, and that these memories can be restored using existing drugs. The study demonstrated that roflumilast, an asthma medication, could recover social memories, while vardenafil, an erectile dysfunction drug, restored spatial memories.
These findings suggest potential new treatments for memory loss caused by sleep deprivation. The research offers hope for developing human therapies to recover lost memories.
The loss of social memories caused by sleep deprivation could potentially be reversed using currently available drugs, according to a study in mice presented today (Friday) at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum 2024.
Lack of sleep is known to affect the brain, including memory, in mice and in humans, but research is beginning to show that these memories are not lost, they are just ‘hidden’ in the brain and difficult to retrieve.
The new research shows that access to these otherwise hidden social memories can be restored in mice with a drug currently used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The team of researchers have also shown that another drug currently used to treat erectile dysfunction can restore access to spatial memories.
