Infection
A severe or chronic infection can cause memory loss in the brain or other regions of the body. HIV, encephalitis, syphilis, and tuberculosis are among the infections that are associated with short-term memory loss.
According to research, a range of aggressive viruses, such as those that cause diarrhea, polio, and common colds, may affect the hippocampus, a vital memory-processing component in the brain. The viruses, known as picornaviruses, attack over a billion individuals annually, inflicting two or three infections on average each year.
Moreover, severe picornavirus infections can occur multiple times in the lives of some individuals. The researchers suggest that this may explain the significant memory impairments experienced in certain elderlies who do not have neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
In significant research done in the U.S., the researchers administered the virus called Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis to mice. This virus is linked to human poliovirus. Due to the mice’s genetic structure, the mice became ill but didn’t experience paralysis after being infected. However, in contrast to healthy mice, the infected mice had difficulties recalling a previously learned route and navigating a maze. The researchers found that the brain of the infected mice suffered from significant damage, particularly in the hippocampus part of the brain that processes memory.
