Center for Cognitive Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA ; Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, and the UCLA Longevity Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:946298. doi: 10.1155/2013/946298. Epub 2013 Jul 22.
Despite increasing emphasis on the potential of dietary antioxidants in preventing memory loss and on diet as a precursor of neurological health, rigorous studies investigating the cognitive effects of foods and their components are rare. Recent animal studies have reported memory and other cognitive benefits of polyphenols, found abundantly in pomegranate juice. We performed a preliminary, placebo-controlled randomized trial of pomegranate juice in older subjects with age-associated memory complaints using memory testing and functional brain activation (fMRI) as outcome measures. Thirty-two subjects (28 completers) were randomly assigned to drink 8 ounces of either pomegranate juice or a flavor-matched placebo drink for 4 weeks. Subjects received memory testing, fMRI scans during cognitive tasks, and blood draws for peripheral biomarkers before and after the intervention. Investigators and subjects were all blind to group membership. After 4 weeks, only the pomegranate group showed a significant improvement in the Buschke selective reminding test of verbal memory and a significant increase in plasma trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and urolithin A-glucuronide. Furthermore, compared to the placebo group, the pomegranate group had increased fMRI activity during verbal and visual memory tasks. While preliminary, these results suggest a role for pomegranate juice in augmenting memory function through task-related increases in functional brain activity.
尽管越来越重视饮食抗氧化剂在预防记忆丧失和饮食作为神经健康的前兆方面的潜力，但对食物及其成分的认知影响进行严格研究的情况很少。最近的动物研究报告了多酚类物质（在石榴汁中含量丰富）对记忆和其他认知功能的益处。我们使用记忆测试和功能性大脑激活（fMRI）作为结果测量指标，对年龄相关性记忆问题的老年受试者进行了石榴汁的初步、安慰剂对照随机试验。32 名受试者（28 名完成者）被随机分配饮用 8 盎司石榴汁或口味匹配的安慰剂饮料，持续 4 周。在干预前后，受试者接受了记忆测试、认知任务期间的 fMRI 扫描以及外周生物标志物的采血。研究人员和受试者均对分组情况一无所知。4 周后，只有石榴组在 Buschke 选择性提醒测试中表现出明显的言语记忆改善，并且血浆 Trolox 等效抗氧化能力（TEAC）和尿石素 A-葡萄糖苷显著增加。此外，与安慰剂组相比，石榴组在言语和视觉记忆任务期间的 fMRI 活动增加。虽然这只是初步结果，但这些结果表明石榴汁在通过与任务相关的功能性大脑活动增加来增强记忆功能方面发挥作用。
