Flavonoïden en bewegen voor een goed geheugen.*
De natuurlijke bioactieve stoffen zoals (bio)flavonoïden en catechinen die volop aanwezig zijn in o.a. thee, cacao, druiven en blauwe bessen blijken volgens een studie het ontstaan en de ernst van geestelijke achteruitgang bij het ouder worden duidelijk te kunnen verminderen, zeker als daarbij ook nog eens regelmatig bewogen wordt.
Natural
Compound And Exercise Boost Memory In Mice
A
natural compound found in blueberries, tea, grapes, and cocoa enhances memory in
mice, according to newly published research. This effect increased further when
mice also exercised regularly.
"This finding is an important advance because it identifies a single
natural chemical with memory-enhancing effects, suggesting that it may be
possible to optimize brain function by combining exercise and dietary
supplementation," says Mark Mattson, PhD, at the National Institute on
Aging.
The compound, epicatechin, is one of a group of chemicals known as flavonols and
has been shown previously to improve cardiovascular function in people and
increase blood flow in the brain. Flavonols are found in some chocolate.
Henriette van Praag, PhD, of the Salk Institute, and colleagues there and at
Mars, Inc., showed that the combination of exercise and a diet with epicatechin
also promoted structural and functional changes in the dentate gyrus, a part of
the brain involved in the formation of learning and memory. The findings,
published in The Journal of Neuroscience, suggest that a diet rich in
flavonols may help reduce the incidence or severity of neurodegenerative disease
or cognitive disorders related to aging.
Van Praag and her team compared mice fed a typical diet with those fed a diet
supplemented with epicatechin. Half the mice in each group were allowed to run
on a wheel for two hours each day. After a month, the mice were trained to find
a platform hidden in a pool of water. Those that both exercised and ate the
epicatechin diet remembered the location of the platform longer than the other
mice.
When studying their brains, van Praag and her colleagues found that these mice
had greater blood vessel growth in the dentate gyrus and had developed more
mature nerve cells, suggesting an enhanced ability of the cells to communicate.
Further analysis showed that the epicatechin and exercise combination had a
beneficial effect on the expression of genes important for learning and memory,
and decreased the activity of genes playing a role in inflammation and
neurodegeneration.
The researchers found that sedentary mice fed epicatechin showed enhanced memory,
blood vessel growth, and gene activity, but these benefits were even more
evident in mice that also exercised.
"A logical next step will be to study the effects of epicatechin on memory
and brain blood flow in aged animals," says van Praag, "and then
humans, combined with mild exercise."
###
The work was a supported by a grant from the US Defense Department's Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency. Mars, which markets a flavonol-rich line of
chocolate, supplied the epicatechin.
The Journal of Neuroscience is published by the Society for Neuroscience,
an organization of more than 36,500 basic scientists and clinicians who study
the brain and nervous system.
(Juni 2007) (Opm. Dit is nog wel een
studie met muizen doch de indicatie is er.)