Chocolate Helps Improve Brain Function in Older Adults

A new study has found that drinking two cups of chocolate can improve thinking and memory abilities in senior citizens.

"We're learning more about blood flow in the brain and its effect on thinking skills. As different areas of the brain need more energy to complete their tasks, they also need greater blood flow. This relationship, called neurovascular coupling, may play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer's," said study author Farzaneh A. Sorond, MD at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

The study was based on a group of 60 people with an average age of 73 years. None of the study participants had dementia at the start of the study. They were all given two cups of chocolate a day for a month.

The participants were then assessed through tests that analyzed their memory and thinking skills. All the respondents also underwent ultrasound tests that measured the amount of blood flow to the brain during the tests.

In the study group, 18 had reduced blood flow to the brain at the start of the study. These people had an 8.3 percent improvement in the blood flow by the end of the study. Their test-taking times also improved- from 167 to 116 seconds.

Previous research had shown that a compound in chocolate called flavanol helps strengthen learning abilities by protecting neurons from injury, improve metabolism and in turn improve brain blood flow to the brain.

"More work is needed to prove a link between cocoa, blood flow problems and cognitive decline. But this is an important first step that could guide future studies," said Paul B. Rosenberg, MD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, in an editorial accompanying the study.

The study is published in the journal Neurology.

According to National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks of daily living. In most people with Alzheimer's, symptoms first appear after age 60.