Botox and Alzheimer's

According to an article at ABC News, scientists at Wesleyan University have been using Botox to study how song birds regrow their brain cells in order to keep singing the correct tune throughout their life. The researchers have not claimed that Botox will provide a cure for Alzheimer's disease but rather that the research will help to shed some light on exactly how the birds manage to regenerate their brain cells as they age, which should help with research into preventing the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease and other similar conditions.

Alzheimer's Disease

• Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. It is a progressive brain disease, which means it gets worse over time. There is no known cure. According to the Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's is fatal and is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. It devastates lives by destroying brain cells, which can have a significant impact on your work and social life. The destruction of brain cells leads to memory loss, changes in behavior and changes in the way you think.

Current Treatments

• Current drug treatments are focused on treating the symptoms and slowing down the progression of the disease. According to the Alzheimer's Association, treatment with these drugs combined with the right support helps millions of Alzheimer's sufferers and their caregivers in America to have a better quality of life than they would otherwise.

Botox

• Botox is the trade name for Botulinum Toxin Type A, which is typically used in the cosmetics industry to treat lines and wrinkles on the face. Botox is a toxin that works locally at the site of injection by blocking the signals between nerves, leading to a relaxation of the surrounding muscles.

Research

• The Australian male Zebra Finch learns how to sing to attract mates as a juvenile. The older it gets, the better its singing becomes. The bird somehow manages to constantly monitor the sound of its song with its brain in order to improve over time. The researchers injected Botox into the voice boxes of the birds, which had the effect of paralyzing the muscles that enabled the birds to sing.

Findings

• The result was that the birds could no longer sing in tune. The researchers were interested in the reaction that the birds brains had to their terrible singing. The brains of the birds struggled to correct the singing leading to unusual brain activity. It was this brain activity that interested the researchers enough to kill the birds after some time in order to examine the activity in their brains.

  According the "Hartford Courant" online, the researchers discovered that even after the brain cells in the area of the brain that controlled the singing had died, other cells had grown in their place to permanently record the songs.

Implications

• The researchers suggest that this information and further research could help them to find out exactly how the bird's brain cells overcame the problem and, using this information, could help to preserve the memories that are lost because of Alzheimer's disease.