There has been a wealth of scientific knowledge of how nutrients and minerals affect neuronal function, repair and growth.

Learning is the process by which the brain is able to store new information by forming new connections between neurons in the vast networks. This ability to form new networks connection is called neuroplasticity. This loss of these connections is what leads to “age related cognitive decline.” One common concern I often heard from patients is forgetting names of people of places, or that it take much longer to retrieve certain information from the memory bank, so called the “tip-of-the-tongue” phenomena.

Magnesium is probably the most important mineral for the brain as it enhances the activity of more than 300 enzymes. These enzymes activate nerve channels that are involved in synaptic plasticity, which is the fundamental process to learning and memory. Not all magnesiums are the same! One form of magnesium, magnesium threonate, has the unique ability to cross the blood-brain-barrier and enhance the receptors in forming connections between neurons.

Magnesium threonate has been shown in numerous studies to actually enhance one’s learning ability, short and long term memory retrieval, information processing speed and quality of sleep.

Researchers in MIT, including a Nobel Prize winner, have demonstrated actual restoration of function in aging neurons in laboratory animals by feeding them a patented form of Magnesium threonate, Magtein. By comparison, it appears that this specific form of magnesium, Magtein, may in fact be the only form of magnesium that significantly increases the levels of magnesium within the brain.