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The victims of Alzheimer's could in theory recover their "lost" memories, according to a study which overturns conventional wisdom. The study suggests that long-term memories are not destroyed by dementia but made inaccessible. The insight has come from studies of mice whose brains lost a large number of nerve cells due to neuro-degeneration. They regained long-term memories and the ability to learn after their surroundings were enriched with toys and other sensory stimuli, according to the study published today in Nature.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mental stimulation and drug treatment may help people with brain ailments such as Alzheimer's disease regain seemingly lost memories, according to research published on Sunday. Scientists used two methods to reverse memory loss in mice with a condition like Alzheimer's -- placing them in sort of a rodent Disneyland to stimulate their brains, and also using a type of drug that encourages growth of brain nerve cells. Neuroscientist Li-Huei Tsai of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said such methods might yield similar benefits in people with Alzheimer's disease or other types...