Magnesium may be vital to memory

TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- An Israeli researcher says sufficient magnesium is key to memory function, but relying on supplements may not be of much help.

Dr. Inna Slutsky of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine says magnesium must penetrate the blood-brain barrier to help stave off age-related memory loss.

Slutsky's research, begun at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as part of a post-doctoral project, has spurred multicenter experiments focusing on a synthetic magnesium that does penetrate the blood-brain barrier -- magnesium L-theronate.

Study findings for the five-year period of experiments using rats found the synthetic magnesium compound enhanced memory or prevented memory impairment in both young and aging animals.

"We are really pleased with the positive results of our studies" using the synthetic magnesium compound, Slutsky said in a statement. "But on the negative side, we've also been able to show that today's over-the-counter magnesium supplements don't really work. They do not get into the brain."

Before synthetic magnesium becomes available, Slutsky recommends getting more magnesium the old-fashioned way -- by eating lots of greens, broccoli, almonds, cashews and fruit.

The findings are published in Neuron.