Learning faster with neurodegenerative disease

September 14, 2012 in Neuroscience

People who bear the genetic mutation for Huntington's disease learn faster than healthy people. The more pronounced the mutation was, the more quickly they learned. This is reported by researchers from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and from Dortmund in the journal Current Biology. The team has thus demonstrated for the first time that neurodegenerative diseases can go hand in hand with increased learning efficiency.

"It is possible that the same mechanisms that lead to the degenerative changes in the also cause the considerably better learning efficiency" says Dr. Christian Beste, head of the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group "Neuronal Mechanisms of Action Control" at the RUB.

Passive learning through repeated stimulus presentation

In a previous study, the Bochum psychologists reported that the human sense of vision can be changed in the long term by repeatedly exposing subjects to certain visual stimuli for short periods (we reported in May 2011, http://aktuell.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pm2011/pm00136.html.de). The task of the participants was to detect changes in the brightness of stimuli. They performed better if they had viewed the stimuli passively for a while first. In the current study, the researchers presented the same task to 29 subjects with the genetic mutation for Huntington's disease, who, however, did not yet show any symptoms. They also tested 45 control subjects without such mutations in the genome. In both groups, the learning efficiency was better after passive than without the passive training. Subjects with the Huntington's mutation, however, increased their performance twice as fast as those without the mutation.

Glutamate may have paradoxical effect

of the nervous system are based on complex changes. A key mechanism is an increased release of the . However, since glutamate is also important for learning, in some cases it could lead to the paradoxical effect: better learning efficiency despite degeneration of the nerve cells.

Detecting differences in brightness under aggravated conditions

In each experimental run, the subjects saw two consecutive small bars on a computer screen that either had the same or different brightness. Sometimes, however, not only the brightness changed from bar one to bar two, but also the orientation of the bar (vertical or horizontal). "Normally, the distraction stimulus, i.e. the change in orientation, draws all the attention" Christian Beste explains. "But after the passive training with the , the distraction stimulus has no effect at all." The shift of attention from the non-relevant to the relevant properties of the stimulus was also visible in the electroencephalogram (EEG) in brain areas for early visual processing.

Better performance with stronger mutation

In Huntington's disease, a short segment of a gene is repeated. The number of repetitions determines when the disease breaks out. In the present study, a greater number of repetitions was, however, also associated with higher learning efficiency. "This shows that neurodegenerative changes can cause paradoxical effects" says Christian Beste. "The everyday view that neurodegenerative changes fundamentally entail deterioration of various functions can no longer be maintained in this dogmatic form."

More information: C. Beste, E. Wascher, H.R. Dinse, C. Saft (2012): Faster perceptual learning through excitotoxic neurodegeneration, Current Biology, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.08.012

Journal reference: Current Biology search and more info website

Provided by Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum search and more info website

not rated yet  

Rank not rated yet
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

For combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 'fear circuitry' in the brain never rests

Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or ...

Neuroscience created May 18, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Temporal processing in the olfactory system

The neural machinery underlying our olfactory sense continues to be an enigma for neuroscience. A recent review in Neuron seeks to expand traditional ideas about how neurons in the olfactory bulb might encode information about ...

Neuroscience created May 17, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Melon focus headband turns to Kickstarter for rollout plans

(Medical Xpress)—What if the quality of your work depends more on your focus on the piano keys or canvas or laptop than your musical or painting or computing skills? If target users can be convinced, they ...

Neuroscience created May 17, 2013 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast weblog

Deep brain stimulation: A fix when the drugs don't work

Neurological disorders can have a devastating impact on the lives of sufferers and their families.

Neuroscience created May 17, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Brain makes call on which ear is used for cell phone

If you're a left-brain thinker, chances are you use your right hand to hold your cell phone up to your right ear, according to a newly published study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

Neuroscience created May 16, 2013 | popularity 2 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast


Consuming coffee linked to lower risk of detrimental liver disease, study finds

Regular consumption of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an autoimmune liver disease, Mayo Clinic research shows. The findings were being presented at the Digestive Disease ...

Ketamine shows significant therapeutic benefit in people with treatment-resistant depression

Patients with treatment-resistant major depression saw dramatic improvement in their illness after treatment with ketamine, an anesthetic, according to the largest ketamine clinical trial to-date led by researchers from the ...

Research examines new methods for managing digestive health

Research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) explores new methods for managing digestive health through diet and lifestyle.

New smartphone application improves colonoscopy preparation

The use of a smartphone application significantly improves patients' preparation for a colonoscopy, according to new research presented today at Digestive Disease Week (DDW). The preparation process, which begins days in ...

New research identifies practice changes to improve value and quality of GI procedures

There are significant cost and risk factors associated with two procedures commonly used to diagnose or treat gastrointestinal problems, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW).

New research identifies risks, interventions for children's GI health

An increasing number of U.S. children are experiencing gastrointestinal issues that require interventions to resolve, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW).