Accident could be a key to Alzheimer's cure

While trying to treat a man for obesity, scientists accidentally came across a process which seemed to stimulate memories and having tried the technique on a handful of people with Alzheimer's disease, the results are said to look promising.

Originally trying to suppress the appetite of a 50-year-old obese man using deep brain stimulation surgery, researchers found that he inadvertently recalled a memory from 30 years earlier in vivid detail.

The study, which was published in the Annals of Neurology found that the 30-stone man reacted to electrodes stimulating the hypothalamus part of the brain with a feeling of deja-vu.

Researchers wrote: "He reported the experience of being in a park with friends from when he was around 20 years old and, as the intensity of stimulation increased, the details became more vivid.

"The scene was in colour. People were wearing identifiable clothes and were talking."

Following three weeks of continuous hypothalamic stimulation, the man also performed better on cognitive tests.

Professor Lozano, an expert on deep-brain stimulation, told the Independent: "It gives us an insight into which brain structures are involved in memory.

"It gives us a means of intervening in the way we have already done in Parkinson's and for mood disorders such as depression, and it may have a therapeutic benefit in people with memory problems."

Six Alzheimer's sufferers are currently in the first stages of trials with the methods.


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