When it comes to improving and maintaining memory, magnesium may be the way to go, new research suggests.
A group of international scientists, led by a team from Tel Aviv University, studied the effects of a new magnesium supplement, magnesium-L-theronate (MgT), on two sets of lab rats. Both sets ate diets rich in natural magnesium, but only one group received the MgT supplements, which are able to bring magnesium across the blood-brain barrier to inhibit calcium flux in brain neurons, according to the report. Over the course of the five-year study, the supplement group routinely performed better on cognitive tests and typically had increased amounts of memory-facilitating synapses in the brain. Researchers were able to show the positive effects of MgT on the brains of both young and old mice.
More than half of those living in industrialized countries suffer a magnesium deficiency. Current over-the-counter magnesium supplements are less effective because they do not reach the brain, according to the report. The research team hopes to develop an effective supplement for consumer use. The research appears in a recent edition of the journal Neuron.
