World Wide Words

From the Turns of Phrase section

Amperkine

The hottest research topic in biotechnology is that of smart drugs, which will enhance memory and concentration, either to counter the effects of ageing or to give younger people a competitive advantage. (These drugs are also called cognitive enhancers or nootropics, from the Greek no-os, “mind” and tropos, “a turning”). Though many such drugs already on the market work through a placebo effect, a new class called amperkines show promise of a genuine pharmacological effect. They work by enhancing the action of a neurotransmitter chemical in the brain called AMPA (which is short for alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole- propionic acid) which handles virtually all routine transmissions of electrical impulses across synapses. The word is formed from the abbreviation AMPA, plus the Greek word kinein, “to move”, and is a trademark of the University of California at Irvine, where the initial research was carried out.