title: Blueberry supplementation induces spatial memory improvements and region-specific regulation of hippocampal BDNF mRNA expression in young rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Flavonoid-rich foods have been shown to be able to reverse age-related cognitive deficits in memory and learning in both animals and humans. However, to date, there have been only a limited number of studies investigating the effects of flavonoid-rich foods on cognition in young/healthy animals.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a blueberry-rich diet in young animals using a spatial working memory paradigm, the delayed non-match task, using an eight-arm radial maze. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying such behavioural effects were investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We show that a 7-week supplementation with a blueberry diet (2 % w/w) improves the spatial memory performance of young rats (2 months old). Blueberry-fed animals also exhibited a faster rate of learning compared to those on the control diet. These behavioural outputs were accompanied by the activation of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK1/2), increases in total cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) and elevated levels of pro- and mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. Changes in hippocampal CREB correlated well with memory performance. Further regional analysis of BDNF gene expression in the hippocampus revealed a specific increase in BDNF mRNA in the dentate gyrus and CA1 areas of hippocampi of blueberry-fed animals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study suggests that consumption of flavonoid-rich blueberries has a positive impact on spatial learning performance in young healthy animals, and these improvements are linked to the activation of ERK-CREB-BDNF pathway in the hippocampus.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Nutrition Group, School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AP, UK.
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rendeiro
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vauzour
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kean
authors.forename: Laurie T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rattray
authors.forename: Jeremy P E
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Claire M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D029798:Blueberry Plants / Q000737:chemistry; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D005419:Flavonoids; D012333:RNA, Messenger