Dietary strawberry improves cognition in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in older adults. 2021

Marshall G Miller, and Nopporn Thangthaeng, and Grant A Rutledge, and Tammy M Scott, and Barbara Shukitt-Hale
USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.

Functional changes in the brain during ageing can alter learning and memory, gait and balance - in some cases leading to early cognitive decline, disability or injurious falls among older adults. Dietary interventions with strawberry (SB) have been associated with improvements in neuronal, psychomotor and cognitive functions in rodent models of ageing. We hypothesised that dietary supplementation with SB would improve mobility and cognition among older adults. In this study, twenty-two men and fifteen women, between the ages of 60 and 75 years, were recruited into a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which they consumed either freeze-dried SB (24 g/d, equivalent to two cups of fresh SB) or a SB placebo for 90 d. Participants completed a battery of balance, gait and cognitive tests at baseline and again at 45 and 90 d of intervention. Significant supplement group by study visit interactions were observed on tests of learning and memory. Participants in the SB group showed significantly shorter latencies in a virtual spatial navigation task (P = 0·020, ηp2 = 0·106) and increased word recognition in the California Verbal Learning test (P = 0·014, ηp2 = 0·159) across study visits relative to controls. However, no improvement in gait or balance was observed. These findings show that the addition of SB to the diets of healthy, older adults can improve some aspects of cognition, but not gait or balance, although more studies with a larger sample size and longer follow-up are needed to confirm this finding.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D003071 Cognition Intellectual or mental process whereby an organism obtains knowledge. Cognitive Function,Cognitions,Cognitive Functions,Function, Cognitive,Functions, Cognitive
D004032 Diet Regular course of eating and drinking adopted by a person or animal. Diets
D004311 Double-Blind Method A method of studying a drug or procedure in which both the subjects and investigators are kept unaware of who is actually getting which specific treatment. Double-Masked Study,Double-Blind Study,Double-Masked Method,Double Blind Method,Double Blind Study,Double Masked Method,Double Masked Study,Double-Blind Methods,Double-Blind Studies,Double-Masked Methods,Double-Masked Studies,Method, Double-Blind,Method, Double-Masked,Methods, Double-Blind,Methods, Double-Masked,Studies, Double-Blind,Studies, Double-Masked,Study, Double-Blind,Study, Double-Masked
D005260 Female Females
D005684 Gait Manner or style of walking. Gaits
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly
D060825 Cognitive Dysfunction Diminished or impaired mental and/or intellectual function. Cognitive Disorder,Mild Cognitive Impairment,Cognitive Decline,Cognitive Impairments,Mental Deterioration,Cognitive Declines,Cognitive Disorders,Cognitive Dysfunctions,Cognitive Impairment,Cognitive Impairment, Mild,Cognitive Impairments, Mild,Decline, Cognitive,Declines, Cognitive,Deterioration, Mental,Deteriorations, Mental,Disorder, Cognitive,Disorders, Cognitive,Dysfunction, Cognitive,Dysfunctions, Cognitive,Impairment, Cognitive,Impairment, Mild Cognitive,Impairments, Cognitive,Impairments, Mild Cognitive,Mental Deteriorations,Mild Cognitive Impairments

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