Extra-virgin olive oil protects memory and learning ability and reduces the formation of amyloid-beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain.
The oil reduces brain inflammation and activates autophagy. Autophagy is the process of cells breakdown and removing of intracellular toxins like amyloid plaques and tau tangles.
Brain cells from mice fed with diets enriched in extra-virgin olive oil had higher levels of autophagy and reduced levels of amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau. Phosphorylated tau causes neurofibrillary tangles that leads to nerve cell dysfunction in the brain that causes Alzheimer disease.
Transgenic mouse model was used by researchers to investigate the links between extra-virgin olive oil and dementia, Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers divided the animals into two groups, one that received a diet enriched with extra-virgin olive oil and one that received the regular diet without the oil.
The olive oil was introduced into the diet when the mice were six months old, before symptoms of Alzheimer's disease begin to emerge in the animal model.
There was no difference between the two groups of animals. However, at age 9 months and 12 months, mice on the extra virgin olive oil diet performed significantly better on tests designed to evaluate working memory, spatial memory, and learning abilities.
Studies of brain tissue from both groups of mice showed dramatic differences in nerve cell appearance and function.
The integrity of the connections between neurons, known as synapses, were preserved in animals on the extra-virgin olive oil diet.
Brain cells from animals in the olive oil group showed a dramatic increase in nerve cell autophagy activation, which was solely responsible for the reduction in levels of amyloid plaques and phosphorylated tau.
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