Rolipram is a selective phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor discovered and developed by Schering AG as a potential antidepressant drug in the early 1990s.

The etiology of many neurodegenerative diseases involves misfolded and clumped proteins which accumulate in the brain.

However, in Alzheimer's disease and some other conditions the activity of these proteasomes is impaired leading to a buildup of toxic aggregates.

Research in mice suggests that rolipram has the ability to ramp up the activity of proteasomes and reduce the burden of these aggregates.

Preliminary evidence suggests that this can improve spatial memory in mice engineered to have aggregate build-up.