Remember Magnesium If You Want to Remember at Any
Age
Study finds new synthetic supplement improves memory
and staves off age-related memory loss
Feb.
22, 2010 - Those who live in industrialized countries have easy access
to healthy food and nutritional supplements, but magnesium deficiencies
are still common. That's a problem because new research from Tel Aviv
University suggests that magnesium, a key nutrient for the functioning
of memory, may be even more critical than previously thought for the
neurons of children and healthy brain cells in aging adults.
Begun at MIT, the research started as a part of a
post-doctoral project by Dr. Inna Slutsky of TAU's Sackler School of
Medicine and evolved to become a multi-center experiment focused on a
new magnesium supplement, magnesium-L-theronate (MgT), that effectively
crosses the blood-brain barrier to inhibit calcium flux in brain
neurons.
Published recently in the scientific journal
Neuron, the new study found that the synthetic magnesium compound
works on both young and aging animals to enhance memory or prevent its
impairment. The research was carried out over a five-year period and has
significant implications for the use of over-the-counter magnesium
supplements.
In the study, two groups of rats ate normal diets
containing a healthy amount of magnesium from natural sources. The first
group was given a supplement of MgT, while the control group had only
its regular diet. Behavioral tests showed that cognitive functioning
improved in the rats in the first group and also demonstrated an
increase of synapses in the brain - connective nerve endings that carry
memories in the form of electrical impulses from one part of the brain
to the other.
Bad news for today's magnesium supplements
Dr. Inna Slutsky
"We are really pleased with the positive results of
our studies," says Dr. Slutsky. "But on the negative side, we've also
been able to show that today's over-the-counter magnesium supplements
don't really work. They do not get into the brain.
"We've developed a promising new compound which has
now taken the first important step towards clinical trials by Prof.
Guosong Liu, Director of the Center for Learning and Memory at Tsinghua
University and cofounder of Magceutics company," she says.
While the effects were not immediate, the
researchers in the study — from Tel Aviv University, MIT, the University
of Toronto, and Tsighua University in Beijing — were able to assess that
the new compound shows improved permeability of the blood-brain barrier.
After two weeks of oral administration of the compound in mice,
magnesium levels in the cerebral-spinal fluid increased.
Toward a more "plastic" brain
Magnesium in
diet
Magnesium is
an essential mineral for human nutrition.
Function
Magnesium in
the body serves several important functions:
●
Contraction and relaxation of muscles
● Function of certain
enzymes in the body
● Production and transport of energy
● Production of protein
"It seems counterintuitive to use magnesium for
memory improvement because magnesium is a natural blocker of the NMDA
receptor, a molecule critical for memory function. But our compound
blocks the receptor only during background neuronal activity. As a
result, it enhances the brain's 'plasticity' and increases the number of
brain synapses that can be switched on," says Dr. Slutsky.
"Our results suggest that commercially available
magnesium supplements are not effective in boosting magnesium in cerebro-spinal
fluid," she says.
"Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in
the body, but today half of all people in industrialized countries are
living with magnesium deficiencies that may generally impair human
health, including cognitive functioning."
Before the new compound becomes commercially
available, Dr. Slutsky advises people to get their magnesium the
old-fashioned way — by eating lots of green leaves, broccoli, almonds,
cashews and fruit. The effects on memory won't appear overnight, she
cautions, but with this persistent change in diet, memory should
improve, and the effects of dementia and other cognitive impairment
diseases related to aging may be considerably delayed.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
Feb.
22, 2010 - Those who live in industrialized countries have easy access
to healthy food and nutritional supplements, but magnesium deficiencies
are still common. That's a problem because new research from Tel Aviv
University suggests that magnesium, a key nutrient for the functioning
of memory, may be even more critical than previously thought for the
neurons of children and healthy brain cells in aging adults.