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Alzheimer’s disease leads to tragic memory deficits, but it's not clear whether those memories are actually lost. It's also not clear whether this is a problem with memory formation and storage or a problem in memory retrieval. This is clinically relevant, since memory retrieval could potentially be restored by targeted brain stimulation.
New work using mouse models of early Alzheimer’s disease just showed that the problem at least starts with memory retrieval. Strikingly, it can also be reversed provided the correct set of neurons is activated. (The results are published in Nature.)
Engrams are the traces of the paths that memories leave as they settle in the brain. They are present both in our psyches and in biochemical alterations present in our neurons. Molecular, genetic, and optogenetic methods have been used to try to identify the population of neurons that hold onto these engrams.
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