Dr. Jess Nithianantharajah and Dr. Anthony Hannan of Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne said mice with the Huntington's disease gene displayed impairments on learning and memory tests at an early stage of the disease, prior to the obvious signs of movement problems. This closely correlates with observations in Huntington's disease patients, the researchers said.

However, Nithianantharajah said by providing the mice with an enriched environment that enhanced their mental and physical stimulation, the mice performed better on these memory tests.

"This discovery is quite remarkable because we have shown that an enriched environment not only delayed the onset of dementia, but it also slowed the progression of memory loss in these mice," Nithianantharajah said in a statement.

The findings are published in the international Journal of Neurobiology of Disease.

This research opens up new therapeutic possibilities for other devastating and difficult to treat brain diseases, including Alzheimer's disease where dementia is a key component, the researchers said.