Provided are methods for enhancing hippocampal plasticity and hippocampal-mediated learning and memory, and/or enhancing the synaptic maturation of neurons, and/or optimizing or enhancing neuronal synaptic transmission, and/or enhancing intracellular oxygen delivery or utilization, and/or enhancing ATP synthesis, comprising administration, to a subject in need thereof of a sufficient amount over a sufficient time, of an ionic aqueous solution of charge-stabilized oxygen-containing nanostructures (e.g., nanobubbles) having an average diameter of less than 100 nm (e.g., in at least one subject group selected from but not limited to normal subjects, subjects recovering from neurological trauma (e.g., accidents or injury to the brain, stroke, oxygen deprivation, drowning, and asphyxia), and subjects with learning disorders (e.g., dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia (sensory integration disorder), dysphasia/aphasia, auditory processing disorder, non-verbal learning disorder, visual processing disorder, and attention deficit disorder (ADD)).
