Food for thought: Research shows a link between key nutrients

Scientists have long studied the brain with the goal of aging more healthily. Although much is known about the risk factors for accelerated brain aging, little is known about how to identify ways to prevent cognitive decline.

There’s evidence that nutrition is important, new research reveals Aging Nature Publishing GroupA paper from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign further suggests how certain nutrients may play an important role in healthy brain aging.

A team of scientists led by Aaron Barbey, director of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, along with Nebraska doctoral student Jisheng Wu and UIUC research scientist Christopher Zwilling, combined the latest information. A multimodal study was conducted. Cutting-edge innovations in neuroscience and nutritional science have identified specific nutrient profiles in participants that showed improved cognitive performance.

This cross-sectional study enrolled 100 cognitively healthy participants aged 65 to 75 years. These participants completed a questionnaire regarding demographic information, anthropometric measurements, and physical activity. Plasma was collected after a fasting period to analyze nutritional biomarkers. Participants also underwent cognitive assessments and MRI scans. The study revealed that participants’ brains aged in two ways: accelerated and slower than expected. People whose brains aged more slowly had unique nutrient profiles.

Blood biomarkers of beneficial nutrients include fatty acids (vaccenic acid, gondic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, erucosapentaenoic acid, eicosadienic acid, lignoceric acid), antioxidants, cis-lutein, trans-lutein, zeaxanthin, etc. It was a combination of carotenoids, two types of vitamin E, and choline. This profile correlates with the nutrients present in the Mediterranean diet, which previous research has linked to healthy brain aging.

“We investigated specific nutrient biomarkers, such as fatty acid profiles, that are known in nutritional science to potentially confer health benefits. “This is consistent with extensive research in this field demonstrating the positive health effects of a food-focused Mediterranean diet,” said Barbey, the Mildred Frances Thompson Professor of Psychology. “This study identified patterns of specific nutrient biomarkers that are promising and have good associations with measures of cognitive performance and brain health.”

Barbey pointed out that previous research on nutrition and brain aging has relied primarily on food frequency questionnaires and relied on participants’ own memories. This study is one of the first and largest to combine brain imaging, blood biomarkers, and validated cognitive assessments.

“What is unique about our study is our comprehensive approach, which integrates data on nutrition, cognitive function, and brain imaging,” Barbey said. “This allows us to build a more robust understanding of the relationships between these factors. We are moving beyond just measuring cognitive ability with traditional neuropsychological tests. , we have simultaneously investigated brain structure, function, and metabolism and demonstrated a direct relationship between these brain characteristics and cognitive performance, as evidenced by the patterns observed in nutritional biomarkers. , indicating that these brain characteristics are directly related to diet and nutrition.”

Researchers will continue to investigate this nutrient profile as it relates to healthy brain aging. In the future, Barbay said, the findings could help develop treatments and interventions to promote brain health.

“An important next step will include conducting randomized controlled trials. We plan to administer the doses in the coming days,” Barbey said. “This will allow us to clearly assess whether increasing levels of these specific nutrient profiles reliably leads to improved performance on cognitive tests and measures of brain structure, function, and metabolism. .”

Barbey is also co-editor of the Journal of Nutrition’s upcoming special collection, “Nutrition and the Brain — Exploring the Path to Optimal Brain Health Through Nutrition,” which is currently soliciting submissions for consideration and will be published next year. Article publication will begin.

“There is tremendous scientific and medical interest in understanding the profound impact that nutrition has on brain health,” Barbey said. “Recognizing this, the National Institutes of Health recently launched a 10-year strategic plan to significantly accelerate research in nutrition. Our research is directly aligned with this important effort. , we aim to contribute valuable insights into how dietary patterns influence brain health and cognitive function.”