According to a new research by the scientists of the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, the antioxidative phytochemicals present in blueberries can give the brain a memory boost; and can, as such, play a notable role in improving memory in older adults with dementia risk.

Against the backdrop of the memory-enhancing benefit of blueberries in earlier animal studies, lead researcher Robert Krikorian and colleagues worked together with several other organizations to test the effect of blueberry juice on memory – observing a group of volunteers, aged around 70 years and showing early signs of memory loss.

The researchers asked the study participants to drink at least two cups of blueberry juice per day for two months; while a control group was made to drink a placebo non-juice beverage during the same period.

The researchers, who conducted learning and memory tests – like word association, list learning and recall tasks – at the beginning and end of the study period, found that the study participants who drank blueberry juice showed a noteworthy improvement in the memory-related tests.

Reporting their findings in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the researchers said: “These preliminary memory findings are encouraging and suggest that consistent supplementation with blueberries may offer an approach to forestall or mitigate neurodegeneration.”