Research Terms
This supplement supplies carbohydrates to the brain to enhance cognitive function and metabolism in aging individuals. Protein glycosylation, or the linkage of carbohydrates and proteins, is a key chemical reaction in the brain. While a healthy protein glycosylation pathway drives optimal mental performance and memory, defects in this pathway cause neurological disorders, including dementia, certain cancers, Alzheimer's disease, and Pompe disease, and is broadly linked to cognitive decline. Approximately 1 in 9 American adults experience subjective cognitive decline, highlighting the need for supplemental neuronal nourishment to maintain sharp brain function.
Researchers at the University of Florida developed a non-caloric carbohydrate supplement to enhance the brain's homeostatic environment and neuronal connectivity with a simple oral tablet. The intake of these simple sugars from the hexose family, related to well-known carbohydrates like glucose and fructose but contain no calories, preserves cognitive function in aging individuals, offering a promising solution to slow the onset of cognitive decline in elderly patients.
Cognitive enrichment in aging individuals impacted by poor protein glycosylation in the brain by supplementing carbohydrate pathways to better memory, learning, social interactions, and alleviate mood disorders and depressive symptoms
Carbohydrates are well-known for providing energy to the body, but they also participate in many key functions beyond calorie intake throughout the body, including in the nervous symptom. Protein glycosylation, or the chemical joining of carbohydrates to proteins, is one such function with important consequences for cell communication and protein folding in the nervous system. When protein glycosylation proceeds poorly, it leads to side effects for the cell, such as inflammation and delayed growth, and the patient, such as epilepsy and memory loss. Chemical pathways involving carbohydrates, such as protein glycosylation and polysaccharide formation, involve saccharides such as those in the hexose family. This supplement delivers calorie-free hexose carbohydrates demonstrated to form larger sugar chains (polysaccharides) to the body in the form of an orally administered tablet, where they can cross the blood-brain barrier. Once in the brain, these carbohydrates modulate the ion channel conductance of the neuron, the mechanism through which the neuron sends electrical signals. They also impact neurotransmitter receptor activity. As demonstrated in mice, these effects translate into cognitive and behavioral changes. The neurological benefits in aging individuals include enhancements to mood, memory, social capacities, and learning, while alleviating depression symptoms and inflammation.
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