A study published in hysiology and Behavior shows that flavanols in chocolate may increase brain performance in healthy middle-aged individuals.
February 17, 2012
A study published in Physiology and Behavior shows that flavanols in chocolate may increase brain performance in healthy middle-aged individuals.
Sixty-three individuals between the ages of 40 and 65 were observed in a randomized, controlled, double-blind study over a sample period of 30 days. They were divided up into three test groups and consumed a prescribed drink daily. The composition of the chocolate drink varied with regard to the proportion of cocoa flavanols they each contained: group one’s drink contained 10 g of dark high flavanol chocolate (corresponds to 500 mg cocoa flavanols), group two’s contained 10 g of conventional dark chocolate (corresponds to 250 mg of cocoa flavanols), and group three’s contained 10 g of dark chocolate that contained hardly any cocoa flavanols. During the sample period, the test subjects were not allowed to consume products containing caffeine, flavonoid-rich fruits, or an excess of alcohol so as not to influence the results of the study.
As the basis for the experiment, the Steady State Visually-Evoked Potential method (SSVEP) was used to measure human brain activity. In order to compare brain activities, on the first and on the 30th day computer-tomography (CT) brain scans of the test subjects were made while participants solved tasks dealing with spatial working memory. Spatial working memory describes the ability to remember, for instance, the location where an object appeared and also to recall a series of earlier locations of other objects.
The results of the study show that the brains of individuals who consumed the cocoa drink with a medium or a high proportion of cocoa flavanols were less strained than those in the control group without cocoa flavanols. Differences in the accuracy or the reaction times of the test subjects in solving the task were not ascertained between the various groups. This means that the higher flavanol chocolate lowered stress levels in the brain after consumption and allowed the test subjects to achieve the same performance with lower resource usage.
Abstract