The randomised double-blind placebo controlled trial, led by Dr David Camfield of the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology at Swinburne University, was funded by a large chocolate manufacturer.

"It does provide preliminary evidence that [cocoa flavanols] can help people to do cognitive tasks more effectively," says Camfield, whose research is published in the journalPhysiology & Behaviour.

Flavanols are chemicals found in plant foods, including grapes, apples, tea and cocoa and have been linked to a range of health benefits, says Camfield.

This latest study looked at the effect of cocoa flavanols on spatial working memory, which holds information in the brain and makes it available for further processing

Camfield says spatial working memory declines rapidly as people age.

His study involved 63 middle-aged volunteers aged between 40 and 65 years, who were asked to drink a chocolate drink each day for 30 days before being tested.

"We looked at brain imaging while people were doing a spatial working memory task," says Camfield.....

"Our study shows that these two genes can be used as a surrogate marker to estimate the rate of Parkinson’s disease progression, with positive predictive values of 94-100% for certain genotypes," says lead author of the study, Dr Yue Huang.

"This finding could be important for guiding the development of therapies for Parkinson's disease," she says.

Parkinson’s disease is the second most prevalent neurological condition after dementia. The disease is characterized by the abnormal accumulation in the brain of a protein called α-synuclein, as well as the loss of dopamine-producing cells in an area of the brain known as the substantia nigra.

The loss of these cells causes the symptoms of Parkinson's, including trembling, stiffness, slowness of movement and a loss of fine motor control.

Dr Huang, working with Prof Glenda Halliday at NeuRA, investigated two genes – NACP and MAPT – implicated in other studies as risk factors for Parkinson's disease.

The NACP gene is related to the production of the α-synuclein protein in the brain, while the MAPT gene is involved in the production of another protein in the brain, called tau.

By testing 123 patients with Parkinson’s disease to determine what version of NACP and MAPT they carried, as well as measuring the severity of their disease and how quickly their disease progressed, the team was able to demonstrate that certain versions (polymorphisms) of these genes interact to influence how quickly some patients with Parkinson's deteriorate....

Modern day Mongols are a central Asian ethnic group mostly found in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China, and Buryatia in Russia with about ten million ethnic Mongol people.

Tracing back to the 13th and 14th century, the “Mongol Empire” was commonly referred to as the largest contiguous empire in world history, with territories stretching from the Yellow Sea in Eastern Asia to the borders of eastern Europe under the leadership of Genghis Khan and his descendants. The vast empire promoted exchange of new technology, commodities, and culture, as well as trade and migration between different ethnic groups across Europe and Asia.

However, the migration patterns of Mongols in the Eurasia Region including China, the Middle East, and Russia during the period of Mongol Empire has always been hotly debated by scientists.

In this study, the DNA sample was contributed by a male adult who belongs to the Mongolian “Royal Family” and is a 34th generation descendant of Genghis Khan.

“The sample is very valuable for the study with a full record of family pedigree and no background of intermarriage between other ethnic groups,” said Professor Huanmin Zhou, Project Investigator and Director of Science and Technology at IMAU.

This landmark study is likely to help researchers better understand the migration of Mongolians and their ancestors from Africa to Asia, and their potential impact on human evolution at the genetic level....