Nutrition for the ageing brain: towards evidence for an optimal diet

As people age they become increasingly susceptible to chronic and extremely debilitating brain diseases. The precise cause of the neuronal degeneration underlying these disorders, and indeed normal brain ageing remains however elusive. Considering the limits of existing preventive methods, there is a desire to develop effective and safe strategies. Growing preclinical and clinical research in healthy individuals or at the early stage of cognitive decline has demonstrated the beneficial impact of nutrition on cognitive functions. The present review is the most recent in a series produced by the Nutrition and Mental Performance Task Force under the auspice of the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe). The latest scientific advances specific to how dietary nutrients and non-nutrient may affect cognitive ageing are presented. Furthermore, several key points related to mechanisms contributing to brain ageing, pathological conditions affecting brain function, and brain biomarkers are also discussed. Overall, findings are inconsistent and fragmented and more research is warranted to determine the underlying mechanisms and to establish dose-response relationships for optimal brain maintenance in different population subgroups. Such approaches are likely to provide the necessary evidence to develop research portfolios that will inform about new dietary recommendations on how to prevent cognitive decline

Multivariable logistic regression Models 1 and 2.

<p>ROC: receiver operating characteristic. AUC: area under the curve. Walking conditions: UP = Usual pace, FP = Fast pace, SP = Slow pace, CW = count walk, AW = animal walk.</p

Multivariable logistic regression Models 1 and 2.

<p>ROC: receiver operating characteristic. AUC: area under the curve. Walking conditions: UP = Usual pace, FP = Fast pace, SP = Slow pace, CW = count walk, AW = animal walk.</p

Dotplot: Multivariate regression model for association between dementia stages (CDR code) and gait variables adjusted for gender in five walking conditions for all participants and for age-stratified groups (two-way ANOVA).

<p>Dotplot_all: Main effect test of CDR on gait parameter, for all ages combined. A 2-way ANOVA model was fitted, with main effects for CDR score and gender but without the interaction term. The dotplot shows the negative logarithm (10-based) of the p-value for the main effect of CDR score.Dotplot_5070: Main effect test of CDR score on gait parameter (age 50 to 70). Dotplot_7080: Main effect test of CDR score on gait parameter (age 70–80). Dotplot_80plus: Main effect test of CDR score on gait parameter (above age 80).</p

Dotplot: Association between dementia stages (CDR code) and gait variables (one-way ANOVA).

<p>Dotplot_all: Association between CDR score and gait (all ages combined). The dotplot shows the negative logarithm (10-based) of the p-values for the one-way ANOVA between gait parameter and CDR score. Strong associations with a small p-value correspond to large values of the–log(p). Each line in the plot corresponds to one gait parameter. On each line, five dots are shown for the 5 walking conditions. Dotplot_5070: Association between CDR score and gait (age 50 to 70). Dotplot_7080: Association between CDR score and gait (age 70–80). Dotplot_80plus: Association between CDR score and gait (above age 80). CDR: Clinical Dementia rating. DTC: dual task cost.</p