Intermittent fasting can significantly shape long-term memory

We all know to eat foods that “activate the brain” favorite blueberry, Fish oil, turmeric. But what may be as important as what you eat is when you eat it.

The number of animal experiments on intermittent fasting continues to grow, and we arrive at this concept. In other words, by refraining from eating for part or all of the day, Brain function.. But there is a problem here. Studies in mice and rats do not mean that the same is true for people — but intermittent fasting may work in a similar way in our brains.And it deserves more Detailed study In humans.

For now, this is what we know: studies with mice and other animals Intermittent fasting The regimen has had amazing effects, including long-term memory.

what’s new – Mice may not remember their childhood memories. Of course, you can’t ask them. However, when mice are fed an intermittent fast, they appear to retain information for much longer than their non-fasting companions.

The latest evidence of this is new Research Published on Tuesday Nature CommunicationsResearchers have found that laboratory mice eaten every other day appear to have better memory than mice on a restricted diet or at any time. did.

Mice fasted every other day performed better in the maze test than mice with 10% less calories per day (intermittently fasted mice consumed 10% less calories overall). Therefore, this reduction was decided). The only difference in their diet was timing.

Researchers use mice Morris Water Maze, This allows the mouse to swim in the maze to reach the safety of the escape platform. After spending many times in the pool, they learn to take an increasingly direct route to the escape platform — that is, they begin to learn the most efficient route.

Mice eaten every other day performed better in this test after 10 days than mice in each of the other groups. The researchers then examined the brain tissue of these mice and noted that intermittent fasting mice showed more neurons in the hippocampus, a region of the brain that plays a major role in memory and learning. These mice also showed increased activity in a gene called Croto. This gene encodes a protein that is thought to enhance cognition in both mice and humans.

In summary, the researchers conclude that these observations are likely to be related to each other and are related to intermittent fasting.

This is the background — intermittent fasting Its proponents often oppose calorie restriction (that is, a diet that eats fewer calories daily) because both regimens may retain the same. Health benefitsHowever, timed fasting is not an effort to reduce food intake.

Why people stick Intermittent fasting A more effective regimen than a diet is that you can eat whatever you like without counting calories during the “feeding” period. In theory, this approach could serve as a treatment for conditions such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and even diseases that affect the brain.

But science Intermittent fasting It’s not clear — and one of the mysteries is whether it has a demonstrable effect equal to or better than a calorie-restricted diet. In one ResearchFasting every other day improved cognitive function in mice compared to a high-fat diet or a “normal” diet (eat at any time).In another study, this was also a mouse, intermittent fasting Appearance To lead to the creation of more brain cells and stronger connections between them.Intermittent fasting is also shown promise By reducing the signs of Alzheimer’s disease — but again, the study is done in mice.

Important reason — In a new study, researchers show that intermittent fasting can provide greater rewards for brain health compared to being subject to a slight calorie restriction (10%). Specifically, better memory retention and more brain cells.

Importantly, the researchers write that intermittent fasting in this study has not been compared to more extreme calorie restriction. Such an extreme diet is the standard for many other mouse-based experiments used to demonstrate the benefits of calorie restriction on health and the brain.

In the laboratory, it is possible to limit the diet of mice to almost half, but it is extreme for humans to follow such a regime. However, a 10% calorie restriction is more realistic for human control, and in theory, eating within the allotted time frame may be easier to achieve.

What we don’t know — It is still unclear whether the memory effect observed in mice retains a true human. Few studies have investigated the potential cognitive effects of intermittent fasting on human cognition. small.. Studies on the ketogenic diet, which in some respects resemble fasting, Limited success.

We also don’t know if the fasting mouse benefits to the brain were in time or because of increased physical activity. The authors state that this relationship has important elements, as fasting mice were more physically active, and further research is needed to break them apart.

However, the author’s next step in answering the question is to conduct a clinical trial comparing the effects of intermittent fasting with calorie restriction in people with certain brain-affecting conditions such as depression, anxiety, and Alzheimer’s disease. I write that it is to be carried out. Several months. Interestingly, the gene they highlighted in their new study, Croto, could play a future role in the development of drugs that mimic the brain-enhancing effects of fasting.Intermittent fasting itself can also be used as a nootropic drug many (((many) I already believe so.

Overview: Daily calorie restriction (CR) and intermittent fasting (IF) enhance longevity and cognition, but the effects and mechanisms that distinguish these two paradigms are unknown. We investigated whether IF in the form of alternate feeding enhances cognition and adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) when compared to a matching daily CR intake of 10% and any condition. It was. After 3 months under IF, female C57BL6 mice showed improved long-term memory retention. IF increased the number of BrdU-labeled cells and neuroblasts in the hippocampus, and microarray analysis revealed longevity genes Croto (Kl) was upregulated in the hippocampus by IF only. Furthermore, we found that downregulation of K1 in human hippocampal progenitor cells resulted in decreased neurogenesis, whereas overexpression of K1 increased neurogenesis. Finally, histological analysis of the brains of K1 knockout mice revealed that K1 is required for AHN, especially in the dorsal hippocampus. These data suggest that IF is superior to 10% CR in memory enhancement, identifying K1 as a novel candidate molecule that regulates the effect of IF on cognition, presumably through AHN enhancement. ..