METHODS. Subjects consumed daily a formulation containing 10 mg L, 2 mg Z, and 10 mg MZ (active group; n ¼ 53) or placebo (n ¼ 52) for a period of 12 months. Study visits were at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. Contrast sensitivity at 6 cycles per degree (cpd) was the primary outcome measure (POM). Secondary outcome measures included CS at other spatial frequencies, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), glare disability, photostress recovery, and light scatter. Macular pigment optical density (MPOD) was measured using dual-wavelength autofluorescence, and serum carotenoid concentrations were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).RESULTS. Compared to placebo, statistically significant improvements from baseline CS were detected at 6 (P ¼ 0.002) and 1.2 (P ¼ 0.004) cpd in the active group. Additionally, improvements in CS were commensurate with the observed increases in retinal concentrations of these carotenoids (r ¼ 0.342, P ¼ 0.002 at 6 cpd). CONCLUSIONS.These results indicate that dietary fortification with the macular carotenoids can have meaningful effects on visual function.

Although rapid eye movement sleep (REM) is regularly implicated in emotional memory consolidation, the role of slow-wave sleep (SWS) in this process is largely uncharacterized. In the present study, we investigated the relative impacts of nocturnal SWS and REM upon the consolidation of emotional memories using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and polysomnography (PSG). Participants encoded emotionally positive, negative, and neutral images (remote memories) before a night of PSG-monitored sleep. Twenty-four hours later, they encoded a second set of images (recent memories) immediately before a recognition test in an MRI scanner. SWS predicted superior memory for remote negative images and a reduction in right hippocampal responses during the recollection of these items. REM, however, predicted an overnight increase in hippocampal-neocortical connectivity associated with negative remote memory. These findings provide physiological support for sequential views of sleep-dependent memory processing, demonstrating that SWS and REM serve distinct but complementary functions in consolidation. Furthermore, these findings extend those ideas to emotional memory by showing that, once selectively reorganized away from the hippocampus during SWS, emotionally aversive representations undergo a comparably targeted process during subsequent REM.

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial demonstrates a memory-enhancing effect of daily supplementation with L, Z, and MZ in healthy subjects with low MP at baseline. The implications of these findings for intellectual performance throughout life, and for risk of cognitive decline in later life, warrant further study.

Supplementation with the macular carotenoids (MZ, Z, and L) benefits patients with AD, in terms of clinically meaningful improvements in visual function and in terms of MP augmentation.

This preliminary report suggests positive outcomes for patients with AD who consumed a combination of xanthophyll carotenoids plus fish oil, but further study is required to confirm this important observation.