Maintaining a proper diet and monitoring insulin intake can not only improve longevity, but it may also improve cognitive function, according to a study published in Public Library of Science Biology.
Using worms, a team of researchers from Princeton University examined how a low-calorie dietary regimen and reduced insulin intake could affect metabolism, memory, stress response and development. The team also used a group of worms that had been genetically altered, allowing the investigators to analyze reduced insulin signaling more efficiently.
The results of the trial showed that restricting caloric intake guarded against the worms suffering from memory loss with age. Also, the genetically mutated worms also showed improved memory performance and learning functions as they got older.
The team concluded that these results may help develop better treatments that can increase longevity and prevent memory loss. However, further research will still be needed.
“Different mechanisms of longevity extension may be beneficial to certain functions and detrimental to others, so it may be the case that treatments that target more than one longevity regulator will be the right approach to take,” said Coleen Murphy, an assistant professor of molecular biology at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, one in eight people aged 65 years and older are diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, which is the most common form of dementia.