Red wine antioxidant can prevent memory deterioration Friday 6 February 2015 13:30 GMT You'd expect red wine to make remembering harder not easier, but in fact it helps prevent age related memory decline, according to new research.Scientists at Texas A&M say it's all down to the wonder antioxidant resveratrol, also found in the skin of red grapes, some berries and peanuts.Ashok K Shetty, a professor at the university's Health Science Center College of Medicine, was investigating the benefits of resveratrol, already celebrated for it's alleged ability to help prevent heart disease and stave off aging.Shetty and his team of researchers found the antioxidant also has a positive effect on the hippocampus, part of the brain that is vital to memory, learning and mood.The study, published in Scientific Reports late last month, said that elderly rats treated with resveratrol enjoyed far better blood flow, memory and other brain growth than those not given the antioxidant. Shetty said: “The results of the study were striking.“

They indicated that for the control rats who did not receive resveratrol, spatial learning ability was largely maintained but ability to make new spatial memories significantly declined between 22 and 25 months. By contrast, both spatial learning and memory improved in the resveratrol-treated rats.”best tasting cheap sweet wineThe rats given resveratrol experienced double the neurogenesis (the growth and development of neurons) of the control rats, much better microvasculature, and decreased inflammation of the hippocampus.best english wine tastingShetty said: “The study provides novel evidence that resveratrol treatment in late middle age can help improve memory and mood function in old age.best red wine to give as a gift 2015

A substance found in red wine and dark chocolate that has been touted for its supposed anti-aging effects may improve people's memory, new research suggests. In a study of overweight adults, those who took resveratrol supplements for six months had better short-term recall than their counterparts who took a placebo. best 30 bottle of red wineThe people who took the supplement also had more connections among brain areas involved in memory, and this paralleled improvements over the study period in their ability to break down sugar in the body, researchers found.good cheap dry red wine This small pilot study, detailed Wednesday (June 4) in the Journal of Neuroscience, is the first to show a link between the red wine compound and cognition in overweight adults, said Veronica Witte, a neuroscientist at the Charit UniversittsmedizinBerlin in Germany. top 100 australia wine

[6 Foods That Are Good for Your Brain] "From a clinical point of view, our findings suggest that regular, high-level intake of resveratrol in the elderly may convey protective effects on cognitive functions, a hypothesis that now needs to be evaluated in large-scale clinical trials," Witte told Live Science. Aside from red wine and dark chocolate, sources of resveratrol include red grapes, peanuts, blueberries and Japanese knotweed. Doctors think the compound mimics the effects of a restricted-calorie diet on the body. Some studies have linked resveratrol to benefits in aging, heart health and anti-cancer effects. But other studies suggest the compound has no effect on longevity. Few studies have investigated resveratrol's effects on cognition, and those that have done so investigated nonhuman primates, the researchers said. In the new study, Witte and her colleagues tested 46 participants who were overweight, but otherwise healthy. Previous studies suggest resveratrol's effects are more pronounced in overweight individuals.

Half of the volunteers were randomly assigned to take 200 milligrams of resveratrol daily for six months, while the other half received a placebo. Neither the researchers nor the volunteers knew who was receiving the supplement or the placebo. Before and after the six-month period, the participants took a memory test, gave a blood sample and had their brains scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measures changes in blood flow as a proxy for brain activity. Those who received resveratrol supplements remembered more words on a list that they had seen 30 minutes previously than those who received the placebo. Moreover, the brain scans showed more communication within the hippocampus, a memory-related brain region, and the blood tests showed reduced levels of a blood sugar marker, in the people who took resveratrol. The findings suggest that sugar metabolism may be linked to brain connectivity and memory, the researchers said. Other scientists praised the study, but agreed that more research was needed to confirm resveratrol's brain-boosting effects.

The study provides the first evidence that resveratrol supplementation in healthy, overweight, older adults affects cognitive and brain function simultaneously, said Fabienne Aujard, an anti-aging researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research in France who was not involved in the study. "Nevertheless, further studies should be performed in non-overweight subjects to extend the observed results." The study showed modest, but still notable improvements in cognitive function and sugar metabolism, said Joseph Baur, a physiologist at the University of Pennsylvania's school of medicine in Philadelphia, who was also not part of the study. Still, the fact that the study involved overweight people "makes the detection of any benefit all the more impressive, but also suggests that the potential impact [of resveratrol] may be underestimated," Baur said. Copyright 2014 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.