( >She adds that Memory impairment in w...)Rats infected as newborns grew up vulnerable to memory problems during an immune challenge

>She adds that, "Memory impairment in wild animals would undoubtedly have severe implications for survival, for example remembering nest sites, food sites and predator vicinities, as well as for fitness, for example remembering territories and potential mate locations."

Bilbo stresses that adults rats who were not infected as pups do not suffer memory impairment as the result of adult infection, and those who were infected are completely normal until they get that second immune system challenge. The relatively uncommon one-two punch seems to cause the problem, although researchers don't know how long it lasts. Still, says Bilbo, "This may go far to explain some of the individual variability in disease susceptibility, other than genetic variation, in animals in the wild and perhaps humans."

The authors conclude that neonatal infection can create later problems by changing how well the body can respond to future immune challenges. Those changes affect how well memories are stored. The early alterationS may be to the basic architecture of glial cells called astrocytes within the hippocampus, which in turn help the central nervous system respond to injury or infection. Because astrocytes also help to determine the number and connectivity of nervous system synapses early in life, especially the first week after birth in rats, they may be involved in the ability to learn and remember, possibly via some link (says Bilbo) to cytokine IL-1BETA production.

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Source:American Psychological Association


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