A team of scientists from Sweden confirmed that middle-aged women who keep a diet have much better memory. The announcement was made in San Francisco at the 95th annual conference of the Endocrine Society.
Andreas Pettersson, the author of the study from Umeå University, Sweden, says the results clearly demonstrate that memory problems provoked by obesity are, in fact, reversible.
The experiment involved twenty postmenopausal women suffering from obesity. Before and after the diet, the researchers measured their body mass index and the density of fat tissue. They also tested episodic memory. Memory tests presumed comparing names and faces in a photo.
The study lasted for six months, during which the participants lost an average of eight pounds. It was found that diet and physical exercise improve not only the cardiovascular system of older women, but their brain function as well.
Functional MRI gave scientists the ability to view the brain activity of the participants when performing memory tests. At the end of the research, it became clear that after weight loss the memory quality improved. The specialists were also able to register the changes in the participants’ brain activity.
Based on this, Pettersson concluded that women’s brain became more active and better able to absorb the information after they lost weight.
