Summary: A new study finds that specific nutrients, similar to those found in the Mediterranean diet, may play a crucial role in slowing brain aging. The study combined blood biomarker analysis, brain imaging and cognitive assessments to identify a nutritional profile associated with slower brain aging in cognitively healthy older adults.
These results suggest that a diet rich in fatty acids, antioxidants, carotenoids, vitamin E and choline could promote healthy brain aging and cognitive function.
Highlights:
- A specific nutritional profile is associated with slower brain aging in older adults.
- This profile corresponds to the nutrients present in the Mediterranean diet.
- The study combined blood biomarkers, brain imaging and cognitive assessments.
Source: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Scientists have long studied the brain in an effort to promote healthier aging. Although much is known about the risk factors for accelerated brain aging, less is known about ways to prevent cognitive decline.
There is evidence that nutrition is important, and a new study published in Aging of the Nature publishing groupfrom the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, further indicates how specific nutrients may play a central role in healthy aging of the brain.
The team of scientists, led by Aron Barbey, director of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, with Jisheng Wu, a doctoral student at Nebraska, and Christopher Zwilling, a researcher at UIUC, carried out the multimodal study – combining the state of cutting-edge innovations in neuroscience and nutritional science – and identified a specific nutritional profile in participants who performed better cognitively.
The cross-sectional study recruited 100 cognitively healthy participants, aged 65 to 75 years. These participants completed a questionnaire containing demographic information, body measurements, and physical activity.
Blood plasma was collected after a fasting period to analyze nutrient biomarkers. Participants also underwent cognitive assessments and MRI scans. The efforts revealed two types of brain aging in participants: accelerated and slower than expected. Those with slower brain aging had a distinct nutritional profile.
Beneficial nutrient blood biomarkers were a combination of fatty acids (vaccenic, gondoic, alpha-linolenic, elcosapentaenoic, eicosadienoic, and lignoceric acids); antioxidants and carotenoids, including cis-lutein, trans-lutein and zeaxanthin; two forms of vitamin E and choline.
This profile correlates with nutrients found in the Mediterranean diet, which research has previously linked to healthy brain aging.
“We studied specific nutritional biomarkers, such as fatty acid profiles, known in nutritional science for their potential health benefits. This fits with the large body of research in the field demonstrating the positive health effects of the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes foods rich in these beneficial nutrients,” said Barbey, the Mildred Francis Thompson Professor of Psychology.
“The present study identifies particular patterns of nutritional biomarkers that show promise and have favorable associations with measures of cognitive performance and brain health. »
Barbey noted that previous research on nutrition and brain aging has relied primarily on food frequency questionnaires, which depend on participants’ own memories. This study is one of the first and largest to combine brain imaging, blood biomarkers and validated cognitive assessments.
“The unique aspect of our study is its comprehensive approach, integrating data on nutrition, cognitive function and brain imaging,” Barbey said.
“This allows us to build a more robust understanding of the relationship between these factors. We go beyond simply measuring cognitive performance with traditional neuropsychological tests.
“Instead, we simultaneously examine the structure, function and metabolism of the brain, demonstrating a direct link between these brain properties and cognitive abilities. Furthermore, we show that these brain properties are directly linked to diet and nutrition, as revealed by patterns observed in nutritional biomarkers.
Researchers will continue to explore this nutritional profile as it relates to healthy brain aging. Barbey said it is possible, in the future, that the findings could contribute to the development of therapies and interventions aimed at promoting brain health.
“An important next step is to conduct randomized controlled trials. In these trials, we will isolate specific nutrients with favorable associations with cognitive function and brain health, and administer them as nutraceuticals,” Barbey said.
“This will allow us to definitively assess whether increasing levels of these specific nutrient profiles reliably leads to improvements in performance on cognitive tests and measures of brain structure, function and metabolism.”
Barbey is also co-editing an upcoming special collection for the Journal of Nutrition, “Nutrition and the Brain – Exploring Pathways to Optimal Brain Health Through Nutrition,” which is currently soliciting submissions for review, and articles will begin publishing next year .
“There is immense scientific and medical interest in understanding the profound impact of nutrition on brain health,” Barbey said.
“Recognizing this, the National Institutes of Health recently launched a 10-year strategic plan to dramatically accelerate nutrition research. Our work directly aligns with this critical initiative, aiming to provide valuable insights into how dietary habits influence brain health and cognitive function.
About this research news on diet and brain aging
Author: Leslie Reed
Source: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Contact: Leslie Reed – University of Nebraska Lincoln
Picture: Image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Free access.
“Investigating nutritional biomarkers of healthy brain aging: a multimodal brain imaging study” by Aron Barbey et al. Natural aging
Abstract
Investigating Nutritional Biomarkers of Healthy Brain Aging: A Multimodal Brain Imaging Study
The emerging field of nutritional cognitive neuroscience aims to discover specific foods and nutrients that promote healthy brain aging.
Central to this effort is the discovery of nutrient profiles that can be targeted in nutritional interventions designed to promote brain health with respect to multimodal neuroimaging measures of brain structure, function, and metabolism.
The present study therefore conducted one of the largest and most comprehensive nutritional biomarker studies examining multimodal neuroimaging measures of brain health in a sample of 100 older adults.
To assess brain health, a comprehensive battery of well-established cognitive and brain imaging measures was administered, along with 13 blood biomarkers of diet and nutrition.
The results of this study revealed distinct patterns of aging, classified into two brain health phenotypes based on hierarchical clustering.
One phenotype demonstrated an accelerated rate of aging, while the other exhibited slower aging than expected. A t-test analysis of dietary biomarkers that distinguished these phenotypes revealed a nutritional profile with higher concentrations of specific fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins.
Study participants with this nutritional profile demonstrated better cognitive scores and delayed brain aging, as determined by a t-test of means.
Notably, participant characteristics such as demographics, fitness levels, and anthropometric data did not account for observed differences in brain aging.
Therefore, the nutritional profile identified by the present study motivates the design of neuroscience-guided dietary interventions to promote healthy brain aging.