| Return to News Index |  |
Return to Home page |
LONDON, Mar 09 (Reuters) -- Elderly people wanting to retain their memory and fend off dementia should chew.
"That's the message from Japanese researchers, who say that chewing helps prevent memory loss as we grow old," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday. Minoru Onozuka and scientists at the Gifu University School of Medicine in Japan believe chewing stimulates the brain and helps it retain memory but they aren't sure exactly how.
"We don't touch on the mechanism," Onozuka told the weekly magazine.
But the scientists did show that mice genetically altered to develop the signs of human ageing and whose teeth were extracted to prevent chewing did not perform as well on memory tests as similar mice with teeth.
Onozuka and his team also used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the brain activity of humans while they were chewing. They found that the jaw movements increased signals in the hippocampus area of the brain, which is critical for learning.
As people age, cells in the hippocampus start to deteriorate and short-term memory decreases.
Dr Joyce Wau, an expert on ageing at the University of Edinburgh, found the Japanese results intriguing. She said chewing may improve memory by reducing stress. So the more elderly people chew the less stress they experience and the less their short-term memory declines.
| Return to News Index | |
Return to Home page |