They are researching how certain nutrients can slow brain aging.
Researchers have long been studying the brain with the goal of promoting healthier aging. While much is known about the risk factors for accelerated brain aging, even less has been discovered about ways to prevent cognitive decline.
There is evidence that nutrition is important, and a new study published in the journal Nature Publishing Group Aging, conducted by the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US, also indicates that nutrition is important. how certain nutrients may play a fundamental role in healthy brain aging.
A team of scientists led by Aron Barbee, director of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, Jisheng Wu, a doctoral student from Nebraska, and Christopher Zwilling, a postdoctoral fellow at UIUC, conducted a multimodal study that combined the latest innovations in neuroscience and nutritional science, and determined specific nutrient profile in participants who had better cognitive performance.
The cross-sectional study included 100 cognitively healthy participants aged 65 to 75 years. These participants completed a questionnaire with demographic information, body measurements, and physical activity. Blood plasma was collected after a period of fasting for nutrient biomarker analysis.
Participants also underwent cognitive assessment and MRI. The efforts revealed two types of brain aging among participants: accelerated and slower than expected. People with slower brain aging had a different nutritional profile.
Biomarkers of beneficial blood nutrients were combinations of fatty acids (vaccenic, gondoic, alpha-linolenic, elcosapentaenoic, eicosadienic and lignoceric acids); antioxidants and carotenoids, including cis-lutein, translutein and zeaxanthin; two forms of vitamin E and choline. This profile correlates with the nutrients found in the Mediterranean diet, which research has previously linked to healthy brain aging.
“We are investigating specific nutrient biomarkers, such as fatty acid profiles, that are known in nutritional science to have potential health benefits. This is consistent with the extensive body of research in this area demonstrating the positive health effects of the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes foods rich in these beneficial nutrients,” says Barbee, Mildred Frances Thompson Professor of Psychology.
“The present study identifies specific patterns of nutrient biomarkers that are promising and have favorable associations with measures of cognitive function and brain health,” he adds.
Barbee notes that previous studies of nutrition and brain aging have relied primarily on food frequency questionnaires, which are based on participants’ own memories. The 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, which combines data from nutrition, cognitive function and brain imaging. This allows us to gain a clearer understanding of the relationship between these factors. We go beyond simply measuring cognitive function using traditional methods. neuropsychological tests,” says the researcher.
Instead, they simultaneously examined brain structure, function, and metabolism, demonstrating a direct link between these brain properties and cognitive abilities. Moreover, “we demonstrate that these brain properties are directly related to diet and nutrition, as evidenced by observed patterns in nutrient biomarkers.”
Researchers will continue to study this nutrient profile as it relates to healthy brain aging. Barbee says it’s possible that the findings could help develop treatments and interventions to improve brain health in the future.
“The next important step is to conduct randomized controlled trials. In these studies, we will isolate specific nutrients that are beneficially associated with cognitive function and brain health and prescribe them in the form of nutraceuticals. This will allow us to definitively assess whether increasing levels of these specific nutrient profiles reliably leads to improvements in cognitive test scores and measures of brain structure, function and metabolism,” he concludes.