Many mammals when they go into hibernation, suffer not only a drop in body temperature but also many of their brain functions disappear . All this is due to a spectacular maneuver of nature to treasure resources. Once winter is over, your brain works again in the same way as it did before hibernation. There is no memory leak or any other effect.
This resource-saving mechanism has inspired a group of British scientists to explore whether a sudden drop in temperature would be able to protect our brain from degeneration and memory loss , flagships of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Sickness. Huntington.
In an experiment with mice, which suffered from some type of neurodegenerative disease, the experts discovered that after a 45-minute hypothermic stroke at about 16 degrees Celsius, the youngest rodents regained their connections between neurons, although the older ones did not. This is due to a molecule (a protein called RBM3) that appears to play a key role in the repairing effect of hypothermia in the brain.
Although these results are still far from being comparable for human beings, “it gives us a target to develop a drug , in the same way that paracetamol is used to lower fever rather than a cold water bath”, explains Giovanna Mallucci, co-author of the study.
The study, which has been published in the journal Nature , raises attention to a key aspect of neurodegenerative diseases: trying to maintain, or who knows whether to improve, the ability to repair the synapse, the communication between neurons.
