OSU News Service

Old dogs might be able to learn new tricks - with the proper diet.

Researchers from Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute and other scientists have found that nutritional supplements can improve the memory, ability to learn and cognitive function of old dogs.

And the trick might just work with those two-legged creatures who throw the stick in the game of fetch.

Scientists are continuing to study the supplements in humans, and believe they may provide a new approach to the neurodegeneration and cognitive decline common with aging.

The newest study was just published in FASEB Journal, produced by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. Researchers also were from the University of Toronto, University of California at Berkeley, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, and Juvenon Inc.

Supplements of two antioxidant compounds, acetyl-lcaritine and alpha lipoic acid, significantly increased the ability of "geriatric" beagle dogs to learn a new task.

The study builds on similar findings made several years ago, done with mice.

"The prospects for cognitive improvement from use of these supplements is both fascinating and exciting," said Tory Hagen, an associate professor in the Pauling Institute, and an expert on aging.

"This is the first time these two compounds, by themselves, have been tested in canines, which have brains that are more biologically similar to humans than some other animal models," Hagen said. "The results should be relevant to what we could expect with humans, and are very encouraging."