Simply put, neurovascular coupling is the relationship between neural function/activity and cerebral blood flow, which affect cerebral white matter integrity. When one has a stroke, neural activity and blood flow are affected, as well as motor. When one develops dementia, Alzheimer's or memory problems, blood flow in the brain, in the cognition areas, is always affected as well as neural activity.
I don't know who decided that cocoa might affect the way our nerves function or the blood in the brain flows, but what a great idea. Sixty people, aged 73 (+/- 5 years) were given brain function tests, in a double blind study (the most accurate form of study) at 24 hours and 30 days after eating cocoa. I won't go into all the technical details, but the results were amazing, at least to me.
After 30 days, the study showed a significant correlation between cocoa consumption and improved cognitive function. Neurovascular coupling and cognitive functioning can be improved by eating cocoa, regularly. Better neural activity is associated with, "greater white matter structural integrity," aka, better thinking power. And, remember, this result could be seen in people who already showed cognitive impairment. Think what eating cocoa, regularly, could do for those of us who haven't yet gotten to that point.
Now, this doesn't mean that you can eat all the Hershy's candy bars you want. The cocoa content needs to be at least 70% and only 1-2 ounces per day. Still, I think this is really exciting...see, we women knew all along that chocolate was good for us!
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