Researchers from the University of Barcelona Institute of Neurosciences have developed a new compound, FLAV-27, that reverses cognitive decline in mice. The new compound targets a specific enzyme to reprogram the epigenome of neurons, rather than removing amyloid-beta plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease. While current drugs for Alzheimer's typically focus on removing these plaques, the new compound uses a broader approach to target upstream changes in gene expression that fuel the disease's progression multiple ways. It is the first inhibitor of its kind to target an enzyme called euchromatic histone-lyine N-methyltransferase 2 (EHMT2), which can silence genes important for brain cell development, synaptic plasticity, and memory processing. Despite not having yet been tested in humans, the compound has shown promising results in cell experiments and studies on mice.