Magnesium boosts learning and memory; green vegetables supply health-enhancing nutrient

• Magnesium helps build bones, make proteins, release energy stored in muscles and regulate body temperature.
• In the cover story of the Dec. 2 issue of Neuron, MIT researchers report a possible new role for magnesium: helping maintain memory function in middle age and beyond.
• The adult daily nutritional requirement for magnesium, a trace mineral found in foods such as dark green, leafy vegetables, is around 400 mg a day.
• But studies show that as many as half of all Americans do not consume enough magnesium.
• Magnesium deficits have been tied to allergies, asthma, attention deficit disorder, anxiety, heart disease, muscle cramps and other conditions.
• Associate Professor Guosong Liu and postdoctoral associate Inna Slutsky at MIT's Picower Center for Learning and Memory found that magnesium helps regulate a key brain receptor important for learning and memory.
• Their work provides evidence that a magnesium deficit may lead to decreased memory and learning ability, while an abundance of magnesium may improve cognitive function.
• "Our study shows...maintaining proper magnesium in the cerebrospinal fluid is essential for maintaining the plasticity of synapses," the authors wrote.
• Loss of plasticity in the hippocampus, where short-term memories are stored, causes the forgetfulness common in older people.
• Synapses, like speakers, have a level of background noise that can get in the way of transmitting their signal from one neuron to another.
• Just as our ears become more sensitive to nuances in music played on a top-of-the-line music system, synapses become more plastic when background noise is reduced.
• Magnesium is the gatekeeper for the NMDA receptor, which receives signals from an important excitatory neurotransmitter involved in synaptic plasticity.