Magnesium supplement helps boost brainpower

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Magnesium supplement helps boost brainpower

_http://www.physorg.com/news183818175.html_

(http://www.physorg.com/news183818175.html)

 

 

Neuroscientists at MIT and Tsinghua University in Beijing show that

increasing brain magnesium with a new compound enhanced learning abilities,

working memory, and short- and long-term memory in rats. The dietary supplement

also boosted older rats' ability to perform a variety of learning tests

 

 

Magnesium, an essential element, is found in dark, leafy vegetables such

as spinach and in some fruits. Those who get less than 400 milligrams

daily are at risk for allergies, asthma and heart disease, among other

conditions. In 2004, Guosong Liu and colleagues at MIT discovered that

magnesium

might have a positive influence on learning and memory. They followed up by

developing a new magnesium compound — magnesium-L-threonate (MgT) — that is

more effective than conventional oral supplements at boosting magnesium in

the brain, and tested it on rats.

 

 

" We found that elevation of brain magnesium led to significant enhancement

of spatial and associative memory in both young and aged rats, " said Liu,

now director of the Center for Learning and Memory at Tsinghua University.

" If MgT is shown to be safe and effective in humans, these results may have

a significant impact on public health. " Liu is cofounder of Magceutics, a

California-based company developing drugs for prevention and treatment of

age-dependent memory decline and Alzheimer's disease.

 

 

" Half the population of the industrialized countries has a magnesium

deficit, which increases with aging. If normal or even higher levels of

magnesium can be maintained, we may be able to significantly slow age-related

loss

of cognitive function and perhaps prevent or treat diseases that affect

cognitive function, " Liu said.

 

 

To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this MgT-induced memory

enhancement, the researchers studied the changes induced in functional and

structural properties of synapses. They found that in young and aged rats,

MgT increased plasticity among synapses, the connections among neurons, and

boosted the density of synapses in the hippocampus, a critical brain

region for learning and memory.

 

 

Susumu Tonegawa at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory helped

carry out the initial behavioral experiments that showed that magnesium

boosted memory in aged rats. Min Zhou's laboratory at the University of

Toronto helped demonstrate the enhancement of synaptic plasticity in

magnesium-treated rats.

 

 

This study not only highlights the importance of a diet with sufficient

daily magnesium, but also suggests the usefulness of magnesium-based

treatments for aging-associated _memory decline_

(http://www.physorg.com/tags/memory+decline/) , , Tonegawa said. Clinical

studies in Beijing are now

investigating the relationship between body _magnesium_

(http://www.physorg.com/tags/magnesium/) status and cognitive functions in

older humans and

Alzheimer's patients.

 

 

More information:

" Enhancement of Learning and Memory by Elevating Brain Magnesium, " Inna

Slutsky, Nashat Abumaria, Long-Jun Wu, Chao Huang, Ling Zhang, Bo Li, Xiang

Zhao, Arvind Govindarajan, Ming-Gao Zhao, Min Zhuo, Susumu Tonegawa and

Guosong Liu in Neuron, published Jan. 28, 2010.

 

 

Provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology