The effect of fampridine on working memory: a randomized controlled trial based on a genome-guided repurposing approach.

Working memory (WM), a key component of cognitive functions, is often impaired in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Through a genome-guided drug repurposing approach, we identified fampridine, a potassium channel blocker used to improve walking in multiple sclerosis, as a candidate for modulating WM. In a subsequent double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial in 43 healthy young adults (ClinicalTrials.

Polygenic susceptibility for multiple sclerosis is associated with working memory in low-performing young adults.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex disease with substantial heritability estimates. Besides typical clinical manifestations such as motor and sensory deficits, MS is characterized by structural and functional brain abnormalities, and by cognitive impairment such as decreased working memory (WM) performance.

Objectives: We investigated the possible link between the polygenic risk for MS and WM performance in healthy adults (18-35 years).

Tweaking synaptic plasticity: Deciphering the role of WWC1 in memory opens new therapeutic horizons.

WWC1 is a scaffolding protein in the evolutionarily conserved Hippo signaling network and is genetically linked to human memory and synaptic plasticity. In the archives of , Stepan demonstrate the translational potential of modulating WWC1 through pharmacological inhibition of Hippo-pathway kinases to enhance cognition.

Role of GLR-1 in Age-Dependent Short-Term Memory Decline.

As the global elderly population grows, age-related cognitive decline is becoming an increasingly significant healthcare issue, often leading to various neuropsychiatric disorders. Among the many molecular players involved in memory, AMPA-type glutamate receptors are known to regulate learning and memory, but how their dynamics change with age and affect memory decline is not well understood. Here, we examined the in vivo properties of the AMPA-type glutamate receptor GLR-1 in the AVA interneuron of the nervous system during physiological aging.

Differential methylation of linoleic acid pathway genes is associated with PTSD symptoms - a longitudinal study with Burundian soldiers returning from a war zone.

Soldiers may be exposed to traumatic stress during combat deployment and thus are at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Genetic and epigenetic evidence suggests that PTSD is linked to forming stress-related memories. In the current study, we investigated post-deployment associations of PTSD symptoms with differential DNA methylation in a sample of Burundian soldiers returning from the African Union Mission in Somalia's war zone.