A drug originally used in cancer treatment has been shown to improve long-term memory and neural connections in the brain in a new study released by UC Irvine researchers.

The study tested the effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors – normally used to attack cancerous tumors – on relaxing the protein structure that organizes genomic DNA and allows for the activation of genes responsible for storing memory. Their findings suggest that HDAC inhibitors could boost memory in humans and have therapeutic benefits for Alzheimer’s patients.

“”This is a fundamental aspect of molecular biology, and it is fascinating that it can impact memory, cancer and neurodegeneration – and potentially other conditions such as drug addiction and other psychiatric disorders,”” professor of neurobiology at UC Irvine Marcelo Wood said.

Wood and his colleagues put mice in a chamber and administered mild electric shocks to them. Afterwards, the scientists injected HDAC inhibitors into the brains of some of the mice. A day later, the mice were placed back into the chamber to see if they remembered the region where they were shocked – those treated with inhibitors froze for significantly longer periods of time.

Researchers posited that the HDAC inhibitors formed stronger neural connections in the brain tissues of treated mice and, thus, improved the mice’s long-term memory.