Compound from hops aids cognitive function in young animals
Xanthohumol, a type of flavonoid found in hops and beer, has been shown in a new study to improve cognitive function in young mice, but not in older animals.The research was just published in Behavioral Brain Research by scientists from the Linus Pauling Institute and College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University. It's another step toward understanding, and ultimately reducing the degradation of memory that happens with age in many mammalian species, including humans.
"Xanthohumol can speed the metabolism, reduce fatty acids in the liver and, at least with young mice, appeared to improve their cognitive flexibility, or higher level thinking," Zamzow said. "Unfortunately it did not reduce palmitoylation in older mice, or improve their learning or cognitive performance, at least in the amounts of the compound we gave them."
Daniel R. Zamzow, Valerie Elias, LeeCole L. Legette, Jaewoo Choi, J. Fred Stevens, Kathy R. Magnusson. Xanthohumol improved cognitive flexibility in young mice. Behavioural Brain Research, 2014; 275: 1 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.08.045