So EPO might help memory funtioning?

[Snation]

EPO, long abused by track and cycling athletes may improve memory functioning. Hmmmm, those athletes seem to forget their drug use.

http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nation ... shows.html

[ponytayne]

Surprising that the drug has a direct effect on neuron growth - i'll have to read the study to find out if it's an oxygen-delivery function.

This would not be surprising, really, in an aging population. Aging results in loss of capillaries in the brain. The density of capillaries decreases, meaning many small areas of the brain get less oxygen than in a comparitive brain of a young animal. Increasing the O2 carrying capacity of the blood will allow greater deliver of O2 into areas affected, and thus, enhance brain function, even without new vessels. However, similar results are found with other drugs that increase/enhance the infiltration of new blood vessels/capillaries (like VEGF, etc).

[Pego]

That it has effect on CNS has been known before. For the starters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythropoietin