Food for Thought: Berries and Grapes Boost Brain
Power
September 1, 2006 – Loss of clear thinking is a
major concern of aging senior citizens and baby boomers and many are
reaching for foods high in antioxidants. They may be on the right track
if they reach for berries or grapes, according to new findings reported
by Agricultural Research Service-funded scientists.
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Laboratory animals that were fed berry extracts—and
then treated to accelerate the aging process—were protected from damage
to brain function, the researchers report. ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s chief scientific research agency.
Psychologist Barbara Shukitt-Hale, neuroscientist
James Joseph and psychologist Amanda Carey of the Jean Mayer USDA Human
Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston
conducted the research in collaboration with colleagues at the
University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The study, which has been
published online, will also appear in an upcoming print issue of
Neurobiology of Aging.
Three groups—20 rats in each—were studied for about
three months. The control group was fed a standard diet of grain-based
chow. A second group was fed chow with blueberry extract equal to one
cup daily in humans. A third group was fed chow with strawberry extract
equal to one pint daily in humans. After two months on the diets, half
of the rats in each group were treated to induce the normal losses in
learning and motor skills that often come with aging.
Compared to the aged control rats, the
aged-but-supplemented rats were much better able to find—and in some
cases remember—the location of an underwater platform.
In addition, the aged control rats had lower levels
of dopamine release than the non-aged control rats. But these decreases
in dopamine release were not seen in the strawberry- and
blueberry-supplemented groups, whether aged or not.
The new findings add to a lineup of research
studies published during the past eight years showing reduced, or in
some cases reversed, declines in brain function among rats whose diets
were supplemented with either blueberry, cranberry or strawberry
extracts or Concord grape juice.
Original report by Rosalie Marion Bliss, ARS
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