It’s completely normal to have a memory that’s about as reliable as a goldfish – that is to say, not very reliable at all! We’ve all been there, trying to remember where we put our keys, only to find out they were in our hands the whole time. Or, what was the name of that person we just met, was it “Bob” or “Bobby”? Oh well, let’s just call them “B” for now.
It’s like our brains are constantly trying to play a game of hide and seek with our memories; just when we think we’ve got them all accounted for, poof, one disappears.
Roflumilast revives ‘lost’ memories in mice after sleep deprivation
Roflumilast is a drug used in humans for treating COPD and asthma. NeuroscienceNews.com reveals that the drug was able to revive apparently lost memories in mice after the little rodents had been through a period of sleep deprivation.
There’s no secret that sleep deprivation can affect a person’s memory. Studies have shown that people who are sleep deprived have difficulty consolidating new memories, which means that the memories they form while not getting enough sleep are more difficult to recall later on. Additionally, sleep deprivation can lead to difficulty focusing and paying attention, which can make it harder to take in and process new information.
Thanks to the findings of Robbert Havekes, a neuroscientist from the University of Groningen, we now find out that what a person learns while not getting enough sleep is more difficult to recall rather than being lost forever.
Havekes explained as NeuroscienceNews.com quotes:
We previously focused on finding ways to support memory processes during a sleep deprivation episode.
He also added, as the same source quotes:
Sleep deprivation undermines memory processes, but every student knows that an answer that eluded them during the exam might pop up hours afterwards. In that case, the information was, in fact, stored in the brain, but just difficult to retrieve.
The new study appears in Current Biology.
