Tag Archive for: memory

How Melatonin Affects Memory

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Most people understand that melatonin functions as a neurotransmitter and can help with sleep. What is now apparent is that melatonin also has powerful antioxidant capabilities, especially as it’s related to the mitochondria, as well as other neurological functions related to memory, according to new research papers.

Researchers used an interesting test of memory in this study. When mice are exposed to a new object, they spend a lot of time examining it on first exposure; when they’re familiar with objects, they have a tendency to ignore them. Researchers exposed young and older mice to new objects and then gave some of the mice a dose of melatonin and two of its metabolites. All the young mice treated the new object as something familiar the next day. The older mice that were not given melatonin said, “Huh? What’s that?” However, older mice that were given melatonin 15 minutes after exposure seemed to remember the new object up to four days later.

The conclusion was that this is a first step to see if melatonin can help with memory in people with cognitive decline, an initial stage related to Alzheimer’s disease. There’s not enough research to say it will work the same way in humans, but there seems to be no downside to taking melatonin on a regular basis with the exception that we don’t know the dosing. If you’ve been taking melatonin for sleep, you may be getting side benefits.

Insiders and Members
In the New Year’s Day memo, I talked about assessing your current health and fitness. I’ve just posted a new Straight Talk on Health that delves into the details of how to assess each category of health. When you log in at drchet.com, follow the Straight Talk on Health link and check it out.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References: J Biochem Mol Toxicol. 2020 Feb;34(2):e22430. doi: 10.1002/jbt.22430.

Remember the Berries!

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Did you ever forget where you put something? Do you ever have trouble remembering the right word when you’re trying to explain something? Did those events ever make you worry about your memory? Based on the questions I get, many of you are concerned. The second study examined what foods may help your memory.

Researchers tested a group of over 200 subjects using a variety of short-term memory and cognitive tests. They then gave the subjects in the experimental group a blend of polyphenols from grapes and blueberries in capsule form with a total of 258 mg of concentrates daily; the control subjects got a placebo.

After six months, they retested all the subjects. They did not find an overall effect. But when they examined those who began with the poorest memory and learning ability, those subjects gained the most benefit. The researchers estimated that some subjects gained the equivalent of 14 years in memory ability.

Where do you buy this blend? It’s not available in this exact blend that I could find. However, a half cup of red grapes has 100 mg of polyphenols while blueberries have about 400 mg of polyphenols. The amounts will vary by the variety of grape, but that’s something you can start doing today to improve your memory. While we don’t know if other berries will have the same impact, any berry has polyphenols. Even if they don’t help with memory, they’ll certainly have other health benefits.

We’ll wrap this up on Saturday. There’s still time to take the survey to help me decide where I’m going in 2020.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: The Journals of Gerontology: https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/gly166.

Will a Jellyfish Extract Help You Remember?

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For this week’s Memos, I’m reviewing products I get asked about frequently, all products that seem to have a large online or television presence. I’m going to review the base research on the product, and then you can decide whether you want to use it or not.

One of the most prevalent television commercials at this time is for a product called Prevagen, a dietary supplement whose tag line is “Improves Memory.” Prevagen contains an extract called apoaequorin from a type of jellyfish that appears to be well researched; however I found only a single clinical trial on the use of apoaequorin and memory. The 90-day trial of 211 subjects aged 40 to 91 showed no significant differences on a variety of cognitive tests between the placebo group and those using apoaequorin. However when a sub-group of subjects who were concerned about memory were tested using the AD8 test, there were statistically significant differences. When accounting for the actual differences in the reported percentages, the differences did not seem significant in the real world.

The product does appear to be safe in standardized toxicology tests on animals. Beyond that, there doesn’t seem to be any clear benefit for supplement use at this time because of the limited clinical research. It should not harm you, but it’s up to you to decide if the small chance it will help is worth your investement.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Adv Mind Body Med. 2016 Winter;30(1):4-11.

Drinking Your Phytonutrients: The Bottom Line

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To finish this series, I’ll briefly cover two recent research studies on coffee and tea, and then give you the bottom line and a recipe.
 
Research
Green Tea and Neuronal Mitochondria
The mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cells, and that includes brain cells. When they operate at peak activity, they provide our brains with the energy for learning and memory. The downside is that they produce many free radicals in the process, and if we don’t have antioxidants to quench those free radicals, it can cause a decline in mental function. Researchers have recently . . .

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