Scientists from Tokyo Medical and Dental University recently have found that melatonin and two of its metabolites help memories stick around in the brain and can shield mice, and potentially people, from cognitive decline.
One of the easiest ways to test memory in mice is to rely on their natural tendency to examine unfamiliar objects.
Given a choice, they’ll spend more time checking out unfamiliar objects than familiar ones. The trick is that for something to be familiar, it has to be remembered.
Like in people, cognitive decline in mice manifests as poor memory, and when tested on this novel object recognition task, they behave as if both objects are new.
In the study, the team was curious about melatonin’s metabolites, the molecules that melatonin is broken down into after entering the body. They suspected that they might promote cognition.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers familiarized mice with objects and gave them doses of melatonin and the two metabolites 1 hour later. Then, they tested their memory the next day.
They found that memory improved after treatment and that one metabolite called AMK was the most effective.
All three metabolites accumulated in the hippocampal region of the brain, a region important for turning experiences into memories.
The researchers also found that long-term memory formation could not be enhanced after blocking melatonin from being converted into AMK in the brain.
The study shows that melatonin’s metabolite AMK can facilitate memory formation in all ages of mice.
Its effect on older mice is particularly encouraging and the researchers are hopeful that future studies will show similar effects in older people.
If this happens, AMK therapy could eventually be used to reduce the severity of Mild Cognitive Impairment and its potential conversion to Alzheimer’s disease.
The study was published in the Journal of Pineal Research and conducted by Atsuhiko Hattori.
If you care about brain health, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that olive oil may help you live longer, and vitamin D could help lower the risk of autoimmune diseases.
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