Thememories of Alzheimer’s patients are forgotten but not gone, totwist a popular phrase. Now, one potential new treatment might helpto recover some of those lost memories. An experimental drug has thepotential to recover memory and improve cognitive function if takenearly in Alzheimer’s development–especially when coupled withother treatments, researchers say.

Scientistsat the University of California Irvine have successfully recoveredthe memories of mice bred to develop age-related Alzheimer’ssymptoms by using an experimental drug that is being tested as atreatment for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. The drug,identified as PMX205, prevents inflamed immune cells fromaccelerating neuron damage by congregating in areas of the brain withamyloid plaques, researchers said. Amyloid plaques are one of themost common physical brain characteristics found in Alzheimer’spatients.

Overthe course of a 12-week study, researchers tested the mice forcognitive ability and memory retention. Mice that received PMX205during early stages of Alzheimer’s performed nearly as well asnormal mice on the tests, but mice receiving no treatment performedvery poorly. When the brains of the mice were examined, researchersfound up to 50% fewer Alzheimer’s-related pathologies in the brainsof the mice receiving PMX205 treatment. The report appears in theJuly 15 edition of The Journal of Immunology.