Khaberni - Researchers at the University of California, Irvine discovered that a decrease in the level of dopamine produced by the brain causes rapid memory deterioration in Alzheimer's patients.
The scientific team focused on the entorhinal cortex, a brain region responsible for the formation of memories and the transmission of information to the hippocampus. Experiments showed that dopamine levels in this area decrease to less than 20% of the normal rate in Alzheimer's patients, weakening the ability of neurons to respond to signals that should be stored as memories.
To test the possibility of reversing this deterioration, the researchers artificially raised dopamine levels, which led to the restoration of the ability to form memories. A similar effect was observed when using the drug Levodopa (Levopa), currently used in treating Parkinson's disease.
The scientists pointed out that the main focus in treating Alzheimer's disease previously was on removing toxic proteins such as amyloid and tau from the body, but recent research suggests that disrupting dopamine-related neural circuits may be crucial in treating this disease.
The researchers believe that targeting the dopamine system might represent a new therapeutic approach for Parkinson's disease, particularly in its early stages, when symptoms of memory impairment begin to appear.
