Blueberries make me think of Maine, which is why I’m waiting to see how long it takes their state tourism board to use the results of a recent British study to lure prospective summer visitors their way. The key words I’m looking for are “anti-aging” and “memory-boosting.”

The combination makes me think of Think Gum, except this is stuff you can actually swallow. And besides, the original Willy Wonka movie already showed us what happens when gum and blueberries mix.

The Maine coast, according to Hollywood. If Mendocino was good enough to stand in for Maine in Murder, She Wrote, it’s good enough for me.

In an upcoming issue of Free Radical Biology and Medicine, researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter and the University of Reading discuss the effects of adding blueberries and other phytochemical-rich foods to study participants’ regular diets over several months.

The data suggests that the supplements enhanced the participants’ memories, possibly by stimulating the brain cell connections.

In a statement, study co-author Matt Whiteman from the Peninsula Medical School said, “This study not only adds science to the claim that eating blueberries are good for you, it also provides support to a diet-based approach that could potentially be used to increase memory capacity and performance in the future.”

As I mentioned earlier, Maine’s gearing up for a summer full of blueberry-related activities such as picking your own berries and berry bakeoffs at a local agricultural fair. I’m guessing the tourism board is waiting for the study to get published before using it in their ads.