New Delhi, November 1 (IANS). Are you suffering from poor memory and stress problems? So an animal study can be a source of relief for you. Jo says that a piece of dark chocolate or a handful of berries can help improve your memory and reduce stress.
The team from Japan’s Shibaura Institute of Technology said that improved memory and thinking ability may be due to flavanols, which are found in abundance in cocoa and berries.
The study, published in the journal Current Research in Food Science, showed that consuming flavanols can trigger a number of physiological responses (such as increased heart rate or BP) that mimic those that occur after exercise – acting as a mild stressor that activates the central nervous system and improves attention, arousal, and memory. Flavanols also protect against neuronal damage.
Dr. Yasuyuki Fujii of the Shibaura Institute said, “The stress response caused by flavanols in this study is similar to the response caused by exercise. Therefore, reduction of flavanols, despite their low bioavailability, may improve health and quality of life.”
In this study, the team investigated how flavanols affect the nervous system through sensory stimulation. They tested the hypothesis that flavanols might directly signal how the astringent taste (dryness, puckering, roughness, or sandpaper-like feeling in the mouth) of flavanols might directly signal the brain.
Researchers conducted experiments on 10-week-old rats, giving them flavanols orally in doses of 25 mg/kg or 50 mg/kg body weight, while control rats were given only distilled water.
Behavioral tests showed that rats fed flavanol showed more motor activity (voluntary movements of the body controlled by the brain), greater curiosity, and better learning and memory compared to control rats.
Flavonols increased neurotransmitter activity in many parts of the brain. Brain levels of dopamine and levodopa, norepinephrine, and its metabolite normetanephrine increased immediately after drug administration.
These chemicals regulate motivation, concentration, stress, and excitement.
In addition, enzymes required for noradrenaline synthesis (tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase) and transport (vesicular monoamine transporter 2) were upregulated, thereby strengthening the signaling capacity of the noradrenergic system (a nervous system that uses a neurotransmitter called norepinephrine).
Additionally, biochemical analysis revealed higher levels of catecholamines (hormones released during stress) in urine, as well as increased activity in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), a key part of the brain that regulates stress.
–IANS
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