Virii may cause memory loss

Quote

Some people experience a number of acute picornavirus infections in their lives. This fact may explain the severe memory problems seen in some elderly people who do not have neurodegenerative illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers suggest.

Charles Howe at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, US, and colleagues injected mice with Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus, which is related to human poliovirus. Because of their genetic makeup, the strain of mice used in the experiment got sick but did not develop paralysis from the infection.