Good Memory's Genetic Component

Oct. 20, 2006 <p> -- MEMORY PROTEIN IDENTIFIED Researchers in the United States and Switzerland have identified one protein in the brain that appears to be a key player in memory. They found the protein by comparing 500 people with good memories to 500 people with poor memories. The protein, called KIBRA, is involved in helping brain cells form connections to each other and is found in areas known to be important for memory. Using brain imaging, the scientists found that people with a version of the KIBRA gene related to poorer memory function had to work harder to remember the same amount of information as people with the "better" copy of the KIBRA gene. Published this week in the journal Science, this suggests that some people may be genetically programmed to have better or worse memory.

DRUG-INDUCED LABOR INCREASES CHANCES OF RARE BUT SERIOUS COMPLICATION Pregnant women who undergo drug-induced labor have a nearly two-fold increased risk of an amniotic-fluid embolism, a rare complication that happens when amniotic fluid escapes from the fetal sac into the mother's circulatory system. In the study, researchers from McGill University analyzed over three million births in Canada. There were only 180 cases of amniotic-fluid embolism, but the complication was almost twice as common in drug-induced births. These findings were published in the most recent issue of Lancet.

STAT is a brief look at the latest medical research and is compiled by Joanna Schaffhausen, who holds a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience. She works in the ABC News Medical Unit, evaluating medical studies, abstracts and news releases.