From Frontiers in Neuroscience, an excellent new study on the benefits of resveratrol in reducing age-related cognitive decline. I have been taking resveratrol for several years now. I have no idea how my brain is doing, but my cholesterol is lower and some other studies have shown that resveratrol can also reduce estrogen levels and boost natural testosterone production - but all of this is in mice, so who knows how much of it translates into humans.
Read the provisional PDF of the article.Resveratrol preserves cerebrovascular density and cognitive function in aging mice
Charlotte A. Oomen, Eszter Farkas, Viktor Roman, Eline M. van der Beek, Paul G. M. Luiten, and Peter MeerloResveratrol, a natural polyphenol abundant in grapes and red wine, has been reported to exert numerous beneficial health effects. Among others, acute neuroprotective effects of resveratrol have been reported in several models of neurodegeneration, both in vitro and in vivo. In the present study we examined the neuroprotective effects of long term dietary supplementation with resveratrol in mice on behavioral, neurochemical and cerebrovascular level. We report a preserved cognitive function in resveratrol treated aging mice, as shown by an enhanced acquisition of a spatial Y-maze task. This was paralleled by a higher microvascular density and a lower number of microvascular abnormalities in comparison to aging non-treated control animals. We found no effects of resveratrol supplementation on cholinergic cell number or fiber density. The present findings support the hypothesis that resveratrol exerts beneficial effects on the brain by maintaining cerebrovascular health. Via this mechanism resveratrol can contribute to the preservation of cognitive function during aging.
Keywords: resveratrol, antioxidant, french paradox, aging, maze learning, cholinergic system, cerebrovascular system, microvesselsCitation: Oomen CA, Farkas E, Roman V, van der Beek EM, Luiten PG and Meerlo P (2009) Resveratrol preserves cerebrovascular density and cognitive function in aging mice. Front. Ag. Neurosci. 1:4. doi:10.3389/neuro.24.004.2009
Received: 31 July 2009; Paper pending published: 10 October 2009; Accepted: 23 November 2009;
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1 comment:
This is interesting. I had just posted this article on how resveratrol helps stave off Alzheimer's disease by interfering with the free radical cascade that ends with the formation of amyloid beta. I haven't heard much about it helping cognitive function. Thanks for posting this.
Andrew
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