Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Neuron. 2010 Jan 28;65(2):165-77. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.12.026.
Learning and memory are fundamental brain functions affected by dietary and environmental factors. Here, we show that increasing brain magnesium using a newly developed magnesium compound (magnesium-L-threonate, MgT) leads to the enhancement of learning abilities, working memory, and short- and long-term memory in rats. The pattern completion ability was also improved in aged rats. MgT-treated rats had higher density of synaptophysin-/synaptobrevin-positive puncta in DG and CA1 subregions of hippocampus that were correlated with memory improvement. Functionally, magnesium increased the number of functional presynaptic release sites, while it reduced their release probability. The resultant synaptic reconfiguration enabled selective enhancement of synaptic transmission for burst inputs. Coupled with concurrent upregulation of NR2B-containing NMDA receptors and its downstream signaling, synaptic plasticity induced by correlated inputs was enhanced. Our findings suggest that an increase in brain magnesium enhances both short-term synaptic facilitation and long-term potentiation and improves learning and memory functions.
学习和记忆是受饮食和环境因素影响的基本大脑功能。在这里，我们表明，使用新开发的镁化合物（L-苏糖酸镁，MgT）增加大脑中的镁含量可提高大鼠的学习能力、工作记忆以及短期和长期记忆。在老年大鼠中，模式完成能力也得到了改善。MgT 处理的大鼠在海马的 DG 和 CA1 亚区中具有更高密度的突触小体素/突触融合蛋白阳性斑点，这与记忆改善有关。功能上，镁增加了功能性突触前释放位点的数量，同时降低了它们的释放概率。由此产生的突触重构使爆发输入的突触传递得以选择性增强。伴随着 NR2B 包含的 NMDA 受体及其下游信号的同时上调，相关输入诱导的突触可塑性得到增强。我们的研究结果表明，大脑镁含量的增加可增强短期突触易化和长期增强作用，并改善学习和记忆功能。
