Researchers from four universities report in the Annals of Neurology that people who absorb glucose more slowly than those who metabolize it quickly are more forgetful and are more likely to have a faulty dentate gyrus, a pocket in the hippocampus section of the brain. The hippocampus is involved with learning and memory formation.

Researchers noted in previous studies that physical activity reduced the risk of age-related memory loss by allowing glucose to be absorbed more quickly into muscle cells; the dentate gyrus could be the missing link.