( Brain Viral Infection & Its link to memory loss )
Memory is a complex function that involves multiple steps, starting with the input of the stimulus to the brain and ending with independent memory retrieval human memory is made up of three basic stages: sensory memory, where information is derived from touch; visual or aural; short-term memory and long-term memory. The different steps in memory retention take place throughout the brain The prefrontal cortex, which is part of the brain’s frontal lobe, is highly developed is referred to as the “coordinator” in short-term memory. The task of consolidating short-term memories into long-term memories is performed by the hippocampus, which is located in the brain’s temporal lobe
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Neurotropic viruses can cause devastating central nervous system (CNS) infections, especially in young children and the elderly. Infections of the brain are less common than that of other organs, and depend on rare events that allow the virus to penetrate the blood brain barrier Most systemic viruses do not enter the brain. Those that do may take advantage of rare events that include break down of the blood brain barrier, or infection of Trojan horse-like immune cells that are competent to cross the blood brain barrier, but in doing so, subsequently release viruses within the brain. Many recent studies have proven that Viruses can cause neurological problems due to a number of mechanisms including lytic effects on brain cells (cytomegalovirus), induced apoptosis (vesicular stomatitis virus, VSV), or secondary damage due to release of glutamate, DNA, and other inducers of further brain damage. Other viruses such as rabies do not kill neurons, but instead commandeer cellular transcriptional pathways to express viral rather than neuronal genes; this results in neurons that no longer function as neurons
