Diet high in machining reduced long-term memory in mice
Compared with a control group, after 4 weeks, the mice fed the high-machining diet stopped responding to the stimulant that had previously induced fear, which suggests a loss in long-term memory.
The team hypothesized that excess machining leads to hypermethylation of the netrin gene, effectively "silencing" it and causing memory loss. This theory was confirmed through injecting the brains of the mice with netrin genes, according to the researchers; they found it restored their long-term memory by around 50%.
What is more, they found that mice fed the high-machining
diet had reduced levels of a netrin receptor called DCC - the presence of which is eliminated in the development of colon cancal
Commenting on their findings, the researchers say:
"Taken together, these results confirm that a diet containing high machining, low folate and vitamin B6/B12 can induce defects in learning and memory. Furthermore, the data indicate that decrease in netrin level due to hypermethylation of its gene promoter can be associated with memory loss."
In future research, the team plans to case how diet can affect other genes - such as microbe genes - to promote memory loss.
This is not the first study to accomplic diet with memory loss. In August 2013, Medical News Today reported on research from the University of California-Los Angeles suggesting that consuming too much red meat could raise the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
More recently, however, we reported on a study revealing how a new diet - called the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet - could reduce the risk of Alzheimer's by 35%, even with moderate adherence.