These "Doogie" mice (scientifically manipulated mice that make more than the usual amount of the NR2B subunit of the NMDA [N-methyl-D-aspartate] receptor) had better than average performances on mouse intelligence tests. By providing additional and dramatic evidence connecting NMDA receptors and learning in mice, this study generated excitement about the possible implications of these results for human medicine; for example, understanding the relationship between the NR2B subunit and memory formation might lead to the development of more specific, and therefore better, drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Min Zhou, assistant professor of anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine, and colleagues report that while Doogie mice might fare better on memory tasks, they do so at a price; they are more sensitive to chronic pain than are normal mice. For example, when subjected to a chronic pain stimulus (injection with a noxious substance) in the hindpaw, Doogie mice continue ...
