Vitamin D keeps old people sharp
People with more vitamin D in their brains are less forgetful in old age.
Vitamin D makes people sharper in old age.
A new study suggests that people whose brains are high in the nutrient are less forgetful and are less likely to suffer from dementia.
Experts in the US examined samples of brain tissue from 209 older adults who had passed away and found for the first time that vitamin D is present in four key areas of the brain.
The vitamin is found in foods such as salmon and red meat and is also created by the body from direct sunlight on the skin.
However, the researchers said it was unclear exactly how vitamin D affects brain function or whether it can help to prevent dementia.
Dr. Kyla Shea, the lead author of the study at Tufts University in Massachusetts, said: "We now know that vitamin D is present in reasonable amounts in human brains, and it seems to be correlated with less decline in cognitive function.
"But we need to do more research to identify the neuropathology that vitamin D is linked to in the brain before we start designing future interventions."
