| As populations shift to include a larger proportion of older adults, the necessity of research targeting older populations is becoming increasing apparent. Changes in motor coordination during `normal' aging, in animals and humans, include decrements in balance and locomotion. Parallel to alterations in motor function, changes in cognitive function in aging include decrements in learning, memory, spatial cognition, and executive function. Dietary interventions with blueberry and strawberry have been associated with positive outcomes in cellular and rodent models of aging. Aged rats, whose diets are supplemented with berries, display improved cognition and motor function in addition to reduced levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain.;The present research investigated the differential effects of 8 weeks of dietary blueberry or strawberry in aged Fischer 344 rats. Aged rats showed impaired reference memory in a novel 4-platform version of the radial arm water maze, relative to young controls, but behavioral effects of the dietary intervention were not observed. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed an increase in OX-6-positive (activated) microglia in the hippocampus of aged rats; however, blueberry-fed rats had significantly fewer activated microglia.;In a subsequent study, men and women (21 and 75 years old) completed a balance, gait, and cognition battery designed to resemble the tests wherein berry-fed, aged rats showed performance enhancements. Observed age-related declines included increased sway velocity during quiet standing, decreased gait speed, poorer spatial learning in a computer-based virtual Morris Water Maze, and increased latencies in the Trail Making Test.;In a third study, men and women between the ages of 60 and 75 years of age were recruited into a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which they consumed freeze-dried blueberry or a blueberry placebo. Participants completed an expanded version of the balance, gait, and cognitive test battery used in the previous study at baseline, and again at 45 and 90 days of intervention. Participants in the blueberry group showed significantly fewer repetition errors in the California Verbal Learning test and reduced switch cost on a task-switching test, relative to controls. These findings suggest the need for further research into the anti-aging effects of berry fruit. |
