John Hamilton

Until now, the evidence that those products actually work has been mostly from studies of cognitive performance.

So, you know, maybe somebody was able to process information more quickly, focus for a longer period of time.

This new study found changes in levels of a really important molecule in the brain.

It's something called acetylcholine.

And now you have.

Acetylcholine is both a neurotransmitter and a neuromodulator.

So what it does is it carries messages around the brain, but it also affects the behavior of neurons.

It neuromodulates.

Unfortunately, as we get older, the levels of acetylcholine in the brain start to go down.

And if you get Alzheimer's, they go way down.

I talked about all that with a scientist at McGill University in Montreal.

His name is Etienne de Villers-Sédanier, and here's what he said.

And you should be.

But hang on.

Etienne was part of a team of scientists that thought they might be able to do something about this.

So they took 92 healthy people who were at least 65 years old,

OK.

And then for the next 10 weeks, they had half of these people spend 30 minutes a day doing that double decision task, you know, the one that you just did.

Actually, Gina, they were taking part in another one of your favorite activities.

I'll let Etienne explain.