Does Getting Sick More Often Impact the Way Our Brain Cells Work and How We Learn and Remember?

Abstract

Everyone catches the flu or a cold from time to time. We designed an experiment to study how being sick more often affects the brain. To do this, we used a piece of a bacteria to make adult male mice experience symptoms of sickness. We gave mice this substance five total times. Mice got better in a few days and had 2-week breaks between exposures. We then measured how the mice learned and remembered new information, and how well their brain cells were working to help them learn. Our experiments indicate that being sick often interferes with communication between brain cells, causing mice to have trouble learning and remembering. Our data can help doctors predict which patients may have memory problems as they grow older. Our study also shows the importance of staying as healthy as possible and taking steps to protect ourselves and others when we do get sick.