It’s nice to know that, when it comes to remembering whatever it was we weren’t supposed to forget, the chemistry of our bodies is sometimes on our side. One of the things our bodies help us to remember, it appears, is the delicious goodness of fat. Yes, fat, as in foods with lots of oleic acids, like olive oil. Scientists at the University of California at Irvine have been studying how
oleic acids from fats are transformed into a compound called
oleoylethanolamide (OEA), which it turns out, sends hunger-curbing messages to the brain to increase feelings of
fullness. That is not a bad thing: High levels of OEA can reduce appetite and lower blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The news worth remembering is that OEA can also activate
memory-enhancing signals in the amygdala, the part of the brain involved in
the consolidation of memories of emotional events. A UCI press release explains that the researchers found that administering OEA to rodents improved
memory retention in two different tests. When cell receptors activated
by OEA were blocked, memory retention effects decreased. Why would our bodies want us to remember the goodness of fats? “By helping mammals remember where and when they have eaten a fatty meal,” says UCI researcher Daniele Piomelli,”OEA’s is an important evolutionary tool. It was probably an important survival mechanism for early humans.”
Read more from UCI’s press office.