Breakthroughs

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RGFP966, a member of a class of drugs known as HDAC inhibitors, makes neurons more plastic and better able to make connections and thus enhance memory and may stave off dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

A Cure for Dementia?
Cancer drug promotes neural plasticity—and better memory.

A drug used in cancer therapies, one that stops genes from converting normal cells into cancerous ones, may also have a role in enhancing memory. RGFP966, a member of a class of drugs known as HDAC inhibitors, makes neurons more plastic and better able to make connections and thus enhance memory. The Rutgers research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that the drug made  rats more attuned to what they were hearing, able to remember more information, and develop new connections that allowed memories to be transmitted among brain cells. RGFP966 has implications for possibly staving off dementia and Alzheimer’s in humans.

“Memory-making in neurological  conditions like Alzheimer’s disease is often poor or absent altogether, once a person is in the advanced stages of the disease,” says Kasia M. Bieszczad, lead author and assistant professor in behavioral and systems neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at the School of Arts and Sciences. “This drug could rescue the ability to make new memories that are rich in detail and content, even in the worst-case scenarios.”

The brain cells of dementia victims shrink and die because the synapses that transfer information among neurons are no longer strong and stable, and there has been no therapeutic treatment available.  — Robin Lally

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Deborah Carr, a professor in the Department of Sociology within the School of Arts and Sciences, researches the topic of marriage.

Photography: 

Nick Romanenko

Marital Woes
Women grow despondent, and men become frustrated.

In a Rutgers and University of Michigan study of 722 couples, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, Deborah Carr, a professor in the Department of Sociology at the School of Arts and Sciences who researches marriage, found that men and women in long marriages address difficulties in their relationship differently. Women worry, leading to sadness and frustration. Men experience frustration and little else.

Men and women have very different emotional reactions to the strain and support they experience in marriage, according to Carr. “The men don’t really want to talk about it or spend too much time thinking about it,” she says. “Men often don’t want to express vulnerable emotions, while women are much more comfortable expressing sadness or worry.”

Discussing issues and offering support makes wives, self-appointed guardians of a marriage’s emotional health, feel good, although women did report generally experiencing more marital strain than men. Such activities only frustrated the men, even happily married ones, whether in the role of giving or receiving emotional support. A big cause is that older generations of men are uncomfortable with spousal support, viewing it as a suggestion of their own growing dependence that comes with advancing age. There has to be a balance between marital suffocation and togetherness, according to Carr. Spouses want to feel loved and supported, but not trapped.

“The general message,” says Carr, “is that support is good only if one views it as helpful and desirable. Most people want to feel capable of managing their own life.”  
— Robin Lally

A Breath of Sunshine
Deficiencies in vitamin D may lead to cognitive decline in older adults.

Older adults with deficiencies in vitamin D experience more rapid cognitive decline than those with adequate vitamin D levels. In a study published in JAMA-Neurology, Joshua Miller, professor of nutritional sciences at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, found that people with low levels of vitamin D experienced cognitive decline two to three times faster than those with sufficient amounts of vitamin D. The vitamin, important for bone health, is obtained primarily through sun exposure and certain foods, and it has a major impact on how the brain functions. Miller conducted the research between 2002 and 2010 while teaching at the University of California, Davis. — Ken Branson

An Aspirin a Day
Salicylic acid, a byproduct of aspirin, may have other healing properties.

A research team has found that the main ingredient in aspirin targets the activities of a protein responsible for inflammation, one that is associated with many ailments, ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to heart disease. The study demonstrated that the main byproduct of aspirin when it breaks down in the body is salicylic acid, which blocks the harmful protein HMGB1. Gaetano Montelione, professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the School of Arts and Sciences, confirmed that salicylic acid can bind to HMGB1 and identified the salicylic acid binding sites.

The study, led by researchers at Rutgers, the Cornell University-affiliated Boyce Thompson Institute, and Italy’s San Raffaele University and Research Institute, offers hope for developing more powerful aspirin-like drugs. Aspirin, one of the oldest and most commonly used medicines, has many health benefits that have been difficult for scientists and physicians to explain. The findings appeared in the journal Molecular Medicine.

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Ten to 40 percent of adolescents harm themselves physically. Yet “nonsuicidal self-injury” is not officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental disorder, and insurance companies are thus not obligated to cover the cost of treatment.

Making It Official
Psychiatry’s failure  to recognize self-injury is failing victims.

Researchers estimate that between 10 and 40 percent of adolescents, and up to 10 percent of adults, harm themselves physically, usually by cutting or burning their skin. Yet the condition, known as nonsuicidal self-injury, is not officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) as a mental disorder, and insurance companies are thus not obligated to cover the cost of treatment.

“The mental health system is failing patients who have a clear problem for which they need help,” says Edward Selby, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the School of Arts  and Sciences, who believes that  the condition should be recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the standard compilation of psychiatric disorders used by mental health practitioners and insurers.

The current edition of the manual considers self-injury a condition that needs “further study”—a characterization that’s well short of the recognition needed to require insurance coverage, better define the affected population, and permit development of more effective treatments. Selby’s research, including his paper that appeared in Clinical Psychological Review, intends to fill any blanks that are holding the APA back from fully recognizing the disorder, which can ultimately lead to suicide attempts. — Rob Forman