title: Mente Activa® Improves Impaired Spatial Memory in Aging Rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Aging is accompanied by a decline in several aspects of the cognitive function, having negative personal and socioeconomic impacts. Dietary supplements could be beneficial for preventing age-related cognitive decline. In this context, we examined whether the nutritional supplement Mente Activa® has beneficial effects on aging-related cognitive deficits without inducing side effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mente Activa® was administered to old rats (n= 30 treated rats and n= 30 control rats) during 5 months, and the Morris water maze was used to test the learning capacities of the animals. The first assessment was conducted before the nutritional intervention (age of 18-19 months), to determine the baseline of the performance of animals on this test, and the second assessment was performed at the end of the treatment (23-24 moths). In order to examine possible secondary effects of this nutritional supplement, plasma, heart anatomy and liver parameters were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our data indicate that supplemented rats showed less escape latency, distance swum, higher use of spatial search strategies, and crossed the former platform location with higher frequency than control rats. These effects were specific of the treatment, indicating that this nutritional supplement has a beneficial effect on spatial memory. On the other hand, the regular intake of Mente Activa® did not induce any negative effects in plasma parameters and heart size.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Aged rats under a sustained dietary intake of the nutritional supplement Mente Activa® displayed improved learning and memory abilities compared to the non-treated rats. These results suggest the therapeutic potential and safety of use of Mente Activa® for age-related cognitive deficits, particularly, in the onset of the first cognitive dysfunction symptoms.
authors.affiliation: C. Pedraza, Dpto. Psicobiología y Metodología de las CC. Facultad de Psicología. Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos s/n., Málaga, 29071. Spain, Tel: +34 952 132 510; Fax: +34 952 134 142, E-mail: mdpedraza@uma.es.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: López-Avalos
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernández-Llebrez Zayas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cifuentes
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: De Andrés
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fernández-Llebrez Del Rey
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Grondona
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pérez-Martín
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pedraza
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006321:Heart / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D065852:Spatial Memory / Q000187:drug effects*