Benefits of Magnesium - Effective Supplements for Memory
Benefits of Magnesium - Effective Supplements for Memory - If you
are worried about the small memories that come with age, such as when you put a
key, telephone number, or someone's name, then there is new work about the
benefits of magnesium that offers hope.
Neuroscientists at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) and Tsinghua University in Beijing found that increasing
magnesium intake - an important mineral in dark leafy vegetables and some
fruits, nuts and beans - might only help memory aberrations that occur with age.
.
Many experts believe that a diet can have a
sufficient impact on our cognitive capacity, and the researchers point to
estimates that only 32% of Americans get recommended daily magnesium intake, as
a reason for worry and reasons to learn more.
The recommended amount of magnesium for adults is 400
milligrams / day for men; 310 milligrams / day for non-pregnant women.
Adults over 31 must get 420 milligrams / day for men;
320 milligrams / day for non-pregnant women. "Magnesium is very important
for the functioning of many tissues in the body, including the brain and, we
show that magnesium increases synaptic plasticity in brain cells as previously
done". Therefore it is tempting to take our study a step further and
investigate whether increased levels brain magnesium improves cognitive
function in animals. "
Even thought the experiment was conducted in mice,
experts believe that the findings also have implications for humans.
The study appears in the January 28 issue of Neruon,
and shows that increased brain magnesium uses new compounds,
magnesium-L-threonate (MgT in short), helps learning, working memory and short
and long term memory in mice.
The mineral also helps older mice perform better in a
series of learning tests conducted by researchers. It was in 2004 that Guosong
Liu and his team at MIT first discovered that magnesium can help memory and
learning, following up by developing new magnesium compounds that proved to be
better than conventional supplements in increasing levels of this mineral in
the brain.
The team then examined how MgT stimulated changes in
synapses. Synapses are junctions between neurons which are key to sending nerve
signals. In young and old mice, MgT increases strength among synapses, promotes
density in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that plays an important role
in spatial navigation and long-term memory.
"This study not only highlights the importance
of a diet with sufficient daily magnesium, but also suggests the usefulness of
magnesium-based treatments for decreased memory-related aging," said study
author Susumu Tonegawa, who works at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and
Memory.
Realizing that aging does indeed cause a decrease in
memory recall when not all information is presented, the researchers conducted
other experiments as part of the study.
They found that MgT treatment improved memory under
conditions of partial information in older mice, but did not affect the younger
ones.
The study authors showed that the control mice in
this study ate normal foods that had sufficient amounts of magnesium. The
effect observed in the study was due to an increase in magnesium to a higher
level than what you get in a normal diet.
Half of the world's industrial population is believed
to have magnesium deficiency according to researcher Liu. "If MgT is
proven safe and effective in humans, this result might have a significant
impact on public health." Liu is one of the founders of Magceutics, a
company that creates medicines for the prevention and treatment of age-related
memory decline and Alzheimer's disease.
A diet that gives you enough daily magnesium is a
smart and natural step to help maintain your mental functioning, and may be
useful if you are struggling with age-related cognitive decline.
Research is ongoing on the benefits of magnesium in
improving your memory and more work needs to be done to investigate the
relationship between the magnesium you get in your food, as well as the body's
and brain's magnesium levels and cognitive skills.
