Feb 2019. The Guardian publishes article on recent advances in the Sibille lab. Excerpt below:
“The new drug is a derivative of benzodiazepine, a family of medicines that includes the anti-anxiety pills Valium and Xanax. While Valium and Xanax have broad effects in the brain, the new drug is designed to target specific GABA “receptors” found on neurons in key parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus, which are heavily involved in cognition. Scientists tested the drug on mice in a maze and found that half an hour after receiving a single dose, old animals performed nearly as well as young mice. The drug also restored the performance of young mice whose memories had been temporarily impaired by the stress of being kept in a confined space.”
