BLUEBERRIES MAY RESTORE SOME MEMORY, COORDINATION AND BALANCE LOST WITH AGE
                                            Release No. 0360.99
                                                               
                     Media Contact: Andy Solomon (202) 720-4623
                                          andy.solomon@usda.gov
                  Public Contact: Judy McBride, (301) 504-1628,
                                      Jmcbride@asrr.arsusda.gov


BLUEBERRIES MAY RESTORE SOME MEMORY, COORDINATION AND BALANCE LOST WITH AGE

     WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 1999--A diet rich in blueberry extract reversed
some loss of balance and coordination and improved short-term memory in aging
rats, according to a USDA study published in today's Journal of Neuroscience.  

     "If this finding holds for humans, it should further encourage
consumption of fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants to help fight the
effects of aging," said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.  

     Daily for eight weeks, researchers fed extracts of blueberry, strawberry
or spinach to 19 month-old rats, age-equivalent to 65 or 70 year-old humans. 
All three extracts improved short-term memory.  Only the blueberry extract
improved balance and coordination.  

     This is the first study that shows fruits and vegetables actually
reversing dysfunctions in behavior and in nerve cells.  Earlier, the same
researchers, led by neuroscientist James A. Joseph of the USDA Human Nutrition
Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, reported that high-
antioxidant fruits and vegetables prevented some loss of function in aging
rats.

     Blueberries, strawberries, and spinach test high in their ability to
subdue oxygen free radicals.  These oxygen radicals, which can damage cell
membranes, DNA and other delicate internal machinery, are blamed for many of
the dysfunctions and diseases associated with aging.  

     "Motor behavior is one of the first things to go as you age," said
Joseph.  "The improvements we saw in coordination and balance are really
significant.  In other studies, little else has reversed these deficits in
motor function."  

     A decline in motor skills starts at about 12 months for rats.  By 19
months, the length of time rats can walk a narrow rod before losing balance
normally drops from 13 to 5 seconds.  After eating blueberry extract, the rats
stayed on the rod for 11 seconds, on average.  
                                
     Joseph and psychologist Barbara Shukitt-Hale were joined in the study by
Natalia Denisova, Donna Bielinski, Antonio  Martin and John McEwen, all at the
USDA center in Boston, and Paula Bickford at the Department of Veterans
Affairs Medical Center in Denver. 

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NOTE TO EDITOR: For scientific details contact neuroscientist James A. Joseph,
(617) 556-3178, or psychologist Barbara Shukitt-Hale, (617) 556-3118, USDA
Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.