Neuroscientists have been working for a long time to identify the molecules that allow us to get the most out of our thinking organ and, incidentally, avoid the ailments of aging. If they can get them together in one pill, the pill most likely contains a few grams of a compound calledP7C3that, according to a bustling American study published in the journalCell, enhances the formation ofnew neurons in the hippocampus, a region of the brain linked to memory and learning.
It is also possible that afuture super memory pill incorporates C3a, a molecule that instructs stem cells to mature to form new neurons. Nor will the prescription lack a drug thatput the RBE1 molecule to work, which increases cognitive performance while activating longevity genes, helps to learn faster, reduces levels of aggressiveness and prevents the development of Alzheimer’s. To this should be addedOmega-3 fatty acids, which not only improve results in memory and reasoning tests, but also prevent the brain from shrinking as we age, according to scientists from the University of Oregon (USA).
Ideally,the new pill will also chemically emulate the benefits of physical exercise, especially after it has been proven that running, cycling and swimming are the activities that increase the formation of neurons (neurogenesis) and the growth of new blood vessels that supply them with sugar and oxygen (angiogenesis). The result is that athletes have up to 2% larger brains and the closest thing to a human “elephant memory”. And thanks to the stimulus of exercise on the prefrontal cortex, they also make better decisions and plan more effectively than ordinary mortals, according to a recent Japanese study.
It only remains to add to our formulaa good dose of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), which has proven to be crucial for forming new memories and permanently archiving information, functioning as a natural memory glue, according to Inna Slutsky, a neuroscientist at Tel Aviv University (Israel), recently in the journal Neuron.
