Nutrient mixture and varied brain activities

Nutrient mixture and varied brain activities improve memory in patients with early Alzheimer’s

A mixture of choline, uridine and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA -- precursors to the lipid molecules in brain-cell membranes -- help overcome loss of connections between brain cells, and diversifying the mental space that you explore may also decrease your risk

July 16, 2012

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A graphic depicting a synapse, a connection between brain cells (craphic: Christine Daniloff/MIT)

A clinical trial of an Alzheimer’s disease treatment developed at MIT has found that the nutrient cocktail can improve memory in patients with early Alzheimer’s.

The results confirm and expand the findings of an earlier trial of the nutritional supplement, which is designed to promote new connections between brain cells.

Alzheimer’s patients gradually lose synapses, leading to memory loss and other cognitive impairments. The supplement mixture, known as Souvenaid, appears to stimulate growth of new synapses, says Richard Wurtman, the Cecil H. Green Distinguished Professor Emeritus at MIT, who invented the nutrient mixture.

“You want to improve the numbers of synapses, not by slowing their degradation — though of course you’d love to do that too — but rather by increasing the formation of the synapses,” Wurtman says./.../