New research has revealed the deeper effects of hydroxytyrosol (HTyr): it does not just protect brain function from aging, it may even restore the vitality of brain neurons and multiply them.

Italian scientists at the National Research Council (CNR) investigated how hydroxytyrosol acts in the areas of the brain that generate new neurons throughout life. They discovered that HTyr affects brain activity far beyond its known neuroprotective effects.

Researchers at the CNR Biochemistry and Cellular Biology Lab (CNR-Ibbc) managed to show how administering the compound to older subjects can reverse neuronal aging, combining the protection of active neurons with the creation of new ones.

"Oral consumption of hydroxytyrosol by young and older animals over the course of a month shows not only how the new neurons generated by the brain in that time frame are protected, but also suggests how, in older animals, it stimulates the proliferation of stem cells," said Felice Tirone, lead scientist and author of the study published in the FASEB Journal. "New neurons are produced from these cells."”