For the many students dealing with learning disabilities,
struggling through the second wave of midterms that seventh and
eighth week often involves more than the common battle to turn off
the television and computer. However, a new study by UCLA
scientists involving popular cholesterol medications may offer hope
to those dealing with learning disabilities.
The study, which was published in the Nov. 8 issue of Current
Biology, found that statins, a popular class of cholesterol drugs,
can overcome the mutation that is linked to the leading genetic
cause of learning disabilities.
An estimated 35 million Americans struggle with learning
disabilities.
For the study, mice bred to develop neurofibromatosis (NF1) were
tested to see how they were affected by the statins.
NF1 is a disease that affects how cells communicate with each
other, resulting in learning deficits.
The learning problems associated with NF1 were previously linked
to Ras, a protein that regulates how brain cells communicate with
each other, in an earlier study by Dr. Alcino Silva, a professor of
neurobiology, psychiatry and psychology at the David Geffen School
of Medicine at UCLA, and his colleagues. Silva also worked on the
current NF1 study.
They found that the NF1 mutation creates a more active Ras which
then disrupts cellular communication and causes problems in the
learning process.
The statins work to counter this disruption by blocking the
effects of certain fats and since Ras needs fat in order to work
properly, the blocking by the statins helps to curb the effects of
Ras.
“This is mind-blowing ““ we think we have a real
fundamental reason to be optimistic,” Silva said in a
statement.
“Here is a drug that affects a key learning and memory
pathway, and completely rescues the most common genetic cause for
learning disabilities. We don’t have to do extensive clinical
trials for toxicity or safety ““ these were already completed
for other uses,” he said.
Dr. Desmond Smith, an associate professor of molecular and
medical pharmacology who has also done research about learning
disabilities using mice, said the sequencing of the human genome
has helped researchers better understand how information is stored
in the brain.
However, there is a problem with using mice to study learning
disabilities, he said.
“The problem with using mice is you can’t speak to
them,” he said.
Smith said this communication barrier prevents researchers from
learning to what extent the medications being studied affect the
mice. For example, Smith said mice cannot tell you if their vision
is improved after taking medications or if their joints are feeling
achy.
“You have to devise fairly clever tests in standard
aspects of perception and motor movement,” he said.
Smith has also done research on Down Syndrome specifically,
which is caused by multiple copies of gene 21. He described Down
Syndrome as a “developmental disability with a learning
component.”
By overexposing mice to gene 21, Smith said he and fellow
researchers were able to “hone in on the minibrain
gene,” which causes deficits in the mice. Smith said the
sequencing of the human genome and the various research studies
completed have helped scientists better understand what is behind
learning disabilities. But they don’t completely understand
the root of these problems.
“How information is stored in the brain is still a
complete mystery,” Smith said.