Poor memory? Try green tea, researchers say

Green tea is good for the memory - for mice, at least. Researchers from China have found that a key chemical in green tea positively affects the generation of brain cells, benefiting memory and spatial learning.

Professor Yun Bai from the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing led the research, which focused on EGCG (epigallocatechin-3 gallate). EGCG is known to be a powerful antioxidant, but Bai’s team believe it has a positive impact on age-related degenerative diseases.

“We proposed that EGCG can improve cognitive function by impacting the generation of neuron cells, a process known as neurogenesis,” said Bai. “We focused our research on the hippocampus, the part of the brain which processes information from short-term to long-term memory.”

EGCG was found to increase production of neural progenitor cells, which are like stem cells in that they can adapt or differentiate into a range of cell types. Bai’s team devised an experiment with laboratory mice to see whether the increased cell production caused by EGCG would help the mice with memory or spatial learning.

“We ran tests on two groups of mice, one which had imbibed EGCG and a control group,” said Bai. “First the mice were trained for three days to find a visible platform in their maze. Then they were trained for seven days to find a hidden platform.”

The mice who had consumed EGCG required less time to find the hidden platform, suggesting that EGCG enhances memory and learning by improving object recognition and spatial memory.

“We have shown that the organic chemical EGCG acts directly to increase the production of neural progenitor cells, both in glass tests and in mice,” Bai said. “This helps us to understand the potential for EGCG, and green tea which contains it, to help combat degenerative diseases and memory loss.”

The study was published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research.