Stress steroid may boost brain spatial learningRSS Feed

Spatial learning during puberty could be enhanced by a stress steroid, which effects receptors in the brain, researchers have shown.

The alpha4-beta-delta receptors in the hippocampus usually suffer reduced excitability in adolescent puberty, which can impair spatial learning.

But researchers at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn have found that this learning deficit can be reversed with steroids, which could have important implications for teenagers recovering from brain injury.

Commenting on the findings, which are published in the journal Science, SUNY professor Sheryl Smith explained: "It is within the realm of possibility that a drug could be developed that would increase learning ability post-puberty, one that might be especially useful for adolescents with learning disabilities."

Last month, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania called for more attention to be paid to mild traumatic brain injury - commonly referred to as concussion - by medical professionals.

News from Serious Law, specialist acquired brain injury solicitors

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