Their study - which appears in The Journal of Neuroscience - specifically identifies how immune system signaling molecules, called cytokines, impair communication among neurons in the hippocampus, an area of the brain critical for discrimination memory. The findings offer insight into why cognitive deficits occurs in people undergoing chemotherapy and those with autoimmune or neurodegenerative diseases.
Moreover, since cytokines are elevated in the brain in each of these conditions, the work suggests potential therapeutic targets to alleviate memory problems in these patients.
"Our research provides the first link among immune system activation, altered neural circuit function and impaired discrimination memory," said Guzowski, the James L. McGaugh Chair in the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory. "The implications may be beneficial for those who have chronic diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, in which memory loss occurs and even for cancer patients."