The University of California San Francisco continues to surprise with new ads of the results on the investigational drug.
Just a few doses of ISRIB, an EXPERIMENTAL drug tested in mice by scientists at the University of San Francisco for months, can reverse age-related cognitive decline, both in memory and mental flexibility.
ISRIB has already shown excellent results in previous studies laboratory, always on mice. The experimental drug is not only capable of reversing cognitive decline. He was also able to restore memory function months after a traumatic brain injury, reverse cognitive impairments in Down's syndrome, prevent noise-related hearing loss, fight some types of prostate cancer and even improve cognition in health conditions.
The cognitive decline linked to old age reversed
In the new studio, published at the beginning of December in the open access journal eLife, researchers showed another striking result of ISRIB. The drug led to a rapid restoration of juvenile cognitive abilities in aged mice. A regression of cognitive decline accompanied by rejuvenation of the brain and immune cells that could help explain the improvements in brain function.
The extremely rapid effects of ISRIB show for the first time that a significant component of age-related cognitive decline can be caused by some sort of reversible physiological "block", not by permanent degradation.
Susanna Rosi, Professor in the Departments of Neurological Surgery and Sciences of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, UC San Francisco
ISRIB shows that the brain can "go back"
“The data suggests that the elderly brain does not permanently lose essential cognitive abilities, as is commonly assumed. These cognitive resources are still there but have somehow been blocked, trapped by a vicious cycle of cellular stress, "he says. Peter Walter, PhD, professor in UCSF's Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and researcher at Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
"Our work with ISRIB shows a way to break that cycle, reverse cognitive decline and restore cognitive abilities that had been blocked over time"
What is the next step for the investigational drug?
We have seen how ISRIB restores cognition in animals with traumatic brain injuries. "It may seem like a crazy idea," he says Susanna Rosi, "But asking if the drug can reverse the very symptoms of aging is only the next logical step."
