Dietary supplementation with foods high in polyphenols has been shown to modulate decrements in performance in aged animals. A series of age-sensitive tasks assessing motor and cognitive skills was used to evaluate the effects of a raspberry diet. An extract was prepared from fresh ripe berries and incorporated at 2% into a standard well-balanced diet. Old rats were fed the supplemented or control diet for 11 weeks. The raspberry group scored significantly better on several motor tasks measuring strength, balance and agility. Performance on measures of learning and memory were unchanged. Results suggest that the bioactive components of raspberries may target age-related impairments in motor function thereby contributing to healthy aging. By affecting motor but not cognitive performance raspberry supplementation demonstrates a unique pattern of effects compared to other fruits and vegetables tested in our model. Future studies will address underlying differences in bioactive composition in relation to behavioral findings

Effects of raspberry supplementation on measures of motor and cognitive function in aged rats

244th National Meeting (2012)

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