Curcumin reverses the scopolamine-induced amnesia through the upregulation of synaptic plasticity proteins

Curcumin is widely used as an Ayurvedic medicine for inflammation-related disorders. Recent experiments have shown its anti-carcinogenic, chemoprophylactic, antioxidant, anti-angiogenic, nootropic and immunomodulatory properties. Biochemical studies have reported that Curcumin efficiently alleviates amnesia and reduces Aβ plaques in animal models of neurodegenerative disorders. However, there are no clear reports on the molecular mechanisms elicited by Curcumin against neurological disorders, particularly amnesia or memory loss. As memory is a result of the interaction of several synaptic plasticity proteins, we hypothesize that Curcumin modulates the specific synaptic plasticity proteins in different brain regions associated with memory processing. To prove this hypothesis, we have investigated the effect of curcumin treatment on the expression level of synaptic plasticity proteins (Arc and FMRP) in scopolamine-induced amnesic male mice. Amnesia was assessed through the Morris water maze test, and protein level was analyzed through Western blotting. We observed a significant downregulation of Arc and FMRP during scopolamine-induced amnesia, which gets reversed by the pre- and post-treatment with Curcumin in both the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of these mice. Our study reveals a molecular pattern of how Curcumin ameliorates amnesia, but additional research on upstream signalling pathways would support the curcumins’ medicinal use in memory problems.