Overview

• The study published in Nature this week encompasses a decade of work by Harvard Medical School and Rush University researchers who combined lab mice experiments with human brain tissue and blood analyses.
• Mice on low-lithium diets showed accelerated brain inflammation, beta-amyloid plaque buildup and memory loss, while those receiving lithium orotate exhibited fewer plaques and regained cognitive function.
• Postmortem analyses of human samples revealed that lithium was the only metal significantly reduced in individuals with mild cognitive impairment compared to cognitively healthy donors.
• Previous epidemiological research found regions with higher trace lithium in drinking water had lower dementia rates, reinforcing lithium’s potential neuroprotective role.
• Investigators caution that mouse-model results must be confirmed in controlled human trials and warn against self-medication with lithium supplements.