Journal
BRITISH JOURNAL OF NUTRITION
Volume 114, Issue 10, Pages 1542-1549Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0007114515003451
Keywords
Strawberries; Blueberries; Spatial memory; Learning; Stress signalling; Neurogenesis
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Funding
- USDA intramural funds
- USDA
- Wild Blueberry Association of North America (WBANA)
- US Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC)
- California Strawberry Commission
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Previously, it has been shown that strawberry (SB) or blueberry (BB) supplementations, when fed to rats from 19 to 21 months of age, reverse age-related decrements in motor and cognitive performance. We have postulated that these effects may be the result of a number of positive benefits of the berry polyphenols, including decreased stress signalling, increased neurogenesis, and increased signals involved in learning and memory. Thus, the present study was carried out to examine these mechanisms in aged animals by administering a control, 2 % SB-or 2 % BB-supplemented diet to aged Fischer 344 rats for 8 weeks to ascertain their effectiveness in reversing age-related deficits in behavioural and neuronal function. The results showed that rats consuming the berry diets exhibited enhanced motor performance and improved cognition, specifically working memory. In addition, the rats supplemented with BB and SB diets showed increased hippocampal neurogenesis and expression of insulin-like growth factor 1, although the improvements in working memory performance could not solely be explained by these increases. The diverse polyphenolics in these berry fruits may have additional mechanisms of action that could account for their relative differences in efficacy.
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