Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Anthony Watson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
The consumption of berry fruits engenders a number of benefits in animal models, including improvements in cognitive performance, slowing of cognitive decline during natural ageing, and neuroprotection. These findings, along with limited human epidemiological evidence, suggest a potential role for the consumption of berry fruit polyphenols in improving human cognitive performance. The current study assessed the effects of two blackcurrant extracts on cognitive outcomes, mood, autonomic measures, peripheral and central monoamine tone, and anthocyanin bioavailability to plasma. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study was conducted using 36 healthy young participants (18–35 years). Findings from the intervention illustrate a cognitive benefit of acute blackcurrant supplementation in healthy young humans and the first description of a clinically significant inhibition of monoamine oxidase-B and monoamine oxidase-A using a commonly consumed fruit. These data also illustrate that compounds other than anthocyanins may be responsible for the observed in vivo MAO inhibition and that the degree of processing and the cultivar of blackcurrant fruit used substantially alter the neuroendocrinological and cognitive benefits conveyed.
Author(s): Watson AW, Haskell-Ramsay CF, Kennedy DO, Cooney JM, Trower T, Scheepens A
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Functional Foods
Year: 2015
Volume: 17
Pages: 524-539
Print publication date: 01/08/2015
Online publication date: 19/06/2015
Acceptance date: 04/06/2015
Date deposited: 26/01/2016
ISSN (print): 1756-4646
ISSN (electronic): 2214-9414
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2015.06.005
DOI: 10.1016/j.jff.2015.06.005
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
