Cited research Cell 142, 39–51 (2010)

Researchers have found a small molecule that can help to keep newborn neurons alive in a memory region of rodent brains, suggesting that it might one day be developed into a treatment to avert memory loss.

Andrew Pieper and Steven McKnight at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and their colleagues identified the molecule, an aminopropyl carbazole dubbed P7C3, by screening 1,000 small-molecule compounds in adult mice.

The molecule was one of eight found that stimulated the growth of new neurons. P7C3 restored structure and function in the hippocampus of mice genetically unable to make new neurons. It also enhanced learning and memory in aged rats. A.K.