A natural compound found in strawberries and other fruits and vegetables could help to prevent Alzheimer's disease and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases, new research suggests.

For the new study, Maher and team sought to determine whether fisetin might have benefits for sporadic Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common form that arises with age.

To reach their findings, the researchers tested fisetin in mice that had been genetically engineered to age prematurely, resulting in a mouse model of sporadic Alzheimer's disease.

When the prematurely aging mice were 3 months old, they were divided into two groups. One group was fed a dose of fisetin with their food every day for 7 months, until they reached the age of 10 months. The other group did not receive the compound.