Physical Activity and Nutrition INfluences in Ageing: Current Findings from the PANINI Project

Background: The ageing of the population is a global challenge and the period of life spent in good health, although increasing, is not keeping pace with lifespan. Consequently, understanding the important factors that contribute to healthy ageing and validating interventions and influencing policy to promote healthy ageing are vital research priorities. Method: The PANINI project is a collaboration of 20 partners across Europe examining the influence of physical activity and nutrition in ageing. Methods utilised encompass the biological to the social, from genetics to the influence of social context. For example, epigenetic, immunological, and psychological assessments, and nutritional and sports science-based interventions have been used among older adults, as well as mathematical modelling and epidemiology. The projects are multi-disciplinary and examine health outcomes in ageing from a range of perspectives. Results: The results discussed here are those emerging thus far in PANINI from 11 distinct programmes of research within PANINI as well as projects cross-cutting the network. New approaches, and the latest results are discussed. Conclusions: The PANINI project has been addressing the impact of physical activity and nutrition on healthy ageing from diverse but interlinked perspectives. It emphasises the importance of using standardized measures and the advantages of combining data to compare biomarkers and interventions across different settings and typologies of older adults. As the projects conclude, the current results and final data will form part of a shared dataset, which will be made open access for other researchers into ageing processes.On behalf of the PANINI Consortiu

Uma abordagem integrada do estudo da alimentação na função cognitiva e efeito da idade na mudança comportamental: associações entre a dieta mediterrânica e medidas de imagem por ressonância magnética e o efeito da idade numa breve intervenção motivacional

Tese de doutoramento em Ciências da SaúdeCognitive health has been associated with the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviours, which in turn is the focus of behaviour change approaches. However, mixed results of clinical trials hinder the translation into practice of the overall view of the beneficial effects of diet on cognitive function. Given that aspects related to the assessment of dietary patterns and the delivery of interventions might play a role in this inconsistency, an integrative approach is required. Thus, the present thesis focuses on i) understanding how dietary patterns relate to cognition by combining neuroimaging with neuropsychological tests, ii) exploring the association of the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) with specific brain measures associated with dietary-related behaviour, and iii) examining how age relates to differences in the motivational interviewing (MI) behaviour change approach in a dietary component - unhealthy alcohol use. Firstly, in a systematic review analysis, we found support for both an association between dietary patterns and cognition, and that neuroimaging can partly clarify the controversy on the diet-cognition interplay and highlighted a gap in the structural connectivity field. Next, in a cohort of aged participants, we observed that MedDiet associated with a specific structural connectivity network whose nodes relate to the processing and integration of taste, reward and decision-making. Furthermore, grey matter density of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, brain regions associated with valuation and dietary self-regulation, were associated with a higher adherence to the MedDiet. Finally, we found that age was related to the effectiveness of a brief motivational intervention and MI-related measures. Specifically, i) a decrease in weekly drinking consumption was recorded among the group aged 22-29 years, which was mirrored by higher MI skills, ii) older adults, i.e. ≥50 years, displayed the lowest MI summary scores, and iii) low values of change language related to decrease of weekly drinking consumption among younger adults (22-29y), adults (30-49) and older adults (≥50y), while among the late adolescents (18-21y), only high values were associated with behaviour change. Altogether, these results support the evidence of the beneficial effects of healthy dietary patterns on brain health and suggest that factors such as the dietary patterns and age might interfere with the effectiveness of behavioural change approaches.A saúde cognitiva tem sido associada à adoção de estilos de vida saudáveis, o que, por sua vez, é o foco de intervenções de mudança comportamental. Contudo, ensaios clínicos têm gerado resultados inconsistentes, dificultando a verificação na prática dos efeitos benéficos da dieta na cognição. Dado que aspetos relacionados com a avaliação do padrão alimentar e os procedimentos delineados nas intervenções podem contribuir para esta inconsistência, a abordagem global é necessária. Assim, a presente tese tem como objetivos i) compreender como padrões alimentares se relacionam com a cognição através da combinação de técnicas de neuroimagem e testes neuropsicológicos, ii) explorar a associação entre a dieta mediterrânica (DM) com medidas cerebrais relacionadas com o comportamento alimentar, e iii) examinar como a idade se relaciona com diferenças em termos de mudança comportamental, especificamente na entrevista motivacional (EM) aplicada ao consumo prejudicial de bebidas alcoólicas. Primariamente, a revisão sistemática corroborou a associação entre padrões alimentares e a cognição, sugerindo que as técnicas de neuroimagem podem contribuir para a clarificação desta relação, através da demonstração da falta de evidência sobre a relação da DM com a força de conectividade estrutural. No segundo trabalho, com um grupo de séniors, os resultados são indicativos que a DM está associada com uma rede específica de conectividade estrutural que envolve regiões associadas ao processamento e integração do sabor, recompensa e tomada de decisão, e que a densidade da substância cinzenta do córtex pré-frontal dorsolateral e ventromedial está positivamente associada à adesão à DM. Finalmente, no terceiro trabalho evidencia-se que a idade está relacionada com a eficiência e parâmetros da EM. Especificamente, i) indivíduos com idades entre 22 e 29 anos registaram a maior diminuição do consumo semanal de bebidas alcoólicas, o que se refletiu em melhores parâmetros da EM, ii) parâmetros da EM são mais baixos em idades ≥50anos, e iii) baixos valores da linguagem da mudança estão associadas a uma diminuição do consumo semanal de bebidas alcoólicas nos jovens adultos (idades: 22-29 e 30-49 anos) e adultos e séniors (≥50anos), enquanto que valores mais elevados são necessários para uma diminuição nos jovens (18-21). No seu conjunto, os resultados indicam que uma dieta saudável apresenta efeitos benéficos na saúde cognitiva e que fatores como o padrão alimentar e a idade podem interferir na eficiência de abordagens de mudança comportamental.Financial support was provided by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme Competitiveness Factors - COMPETE and National Funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology under the projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038, UIDB/50026/2020 and UIDP/50026/2020; and by the projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013 and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Financial Support was also obtained from “SwitchBox” (Contract HEALTH-F2-2010- 259772), co-financed by the Portuguese North Regional Operational Program (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (QREN), through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and by the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal) (Contract grant number: P-139977; project “Better mental health during ageing based on temporal prediction of individual brain ageing trajectories (TEMPO)”). The doctoral work was funded by the Physical Activity and Nutritional INfluences In ageing (PANINI) Innovative Training Network (European Commission, Horizon 2020, Grant number: 675003) and a Research Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship 2019/2020. In Switzerland, the trial was conducted in the Emergency Department of the Lausanne University Hospital, and the project was funded by Grant 3200-067949 of the Swiss National Science Foundation

Securitizing climate change : process and implications

Dissertação de mestrado em Relações Internacionais especialização em Estudos da Paz e da Segurança, pela Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, 200

Mapping expectancy-based appetitive placebo effects onto the brain in women

Suggestions about hunger can generate placebo effects on hunger experiences. But, the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms are unknown. Here, we show in 255 women that hunger expectancies, induced by suggestion-based placebo interventions, determine hunger sensations and economic food choices. Functional magnetic resonance imaging in a subgroup (n = 57/255) provides evidence that the strength of expecting the placebo to decrease hunger moderates medial prefrontal cortex activation at the time of food choice and attenuates ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) responses to food value. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation linked to interference resolution formally mediates the suggestion-based placebo effects on hunger. A drift-diffusion model characterizes this effect by showing that the hunger suggestions bias participants’ food choices and how much they weigh tastiness against the healthiness of food, which further moderates vmPFC–dlPFC psychophysiological interactions when participants expect decreased hunger. Thus, suggestion-induced beliefs about hunger shape hunger addressing economic choices through cognitive regulation of value computation within the prefrontal cortex

Larger dlPFC and vmPFC grey matter volumes are associated with high adherence to the Mediterranean diet: A cross-sectional study in older adults

Dietary self-control is associated with inter-individual differences in neuroanatomy. Yet, whether such inter-individual differences are also associated with healthier dietary patterns is yet to be determined. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 100 northern Portuguese older community-dwellers were assessed with regards to i) the adherence to a healthy dietary eating pattern – the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), and ii) grey matter density (GMD) of brain regions associated with valuation and dietary self-regulation, the ventromedial (vmPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), through voxel-based morphometry. Healthy food choices were ascertained through the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) where higher scores indicated greater adherence to the MedDiet. Voxel-based morphometry showed that greater grey matter density in the dlPFC and vmPFC associated with a higher adherence to the MedDiet. These results replicate previous links between dietary decision-making measured under laboratory conditions and the neuroanatomy of the brain's valuation and self-control system. Importantly, they shed new light on the potential relevance of inter-individual differences in the neuroanatomy of these two brain regions for adhering to healthier dietary patterns in everyday life

Knowledge of Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines is Not Associated with Physical Function in Dutch Older Adults Attending a Healthy Ageing Public Engagement Event

Purpose: Evidence-based guidelines on nutrition and physical activity are used to increase knowledge in order to promote a healthy lifestyle. However, actual knowledge of guidelines is limited and whether it is associated with health outcomes is unclear. Participants and Methods: This inception cohort study aimed to investigate the association of knowledge of nutrition and physical activity guidelines with objective measures of physical function and physical activity in community-dwelling older adults attending a public engagement event in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Knowledge of nutrition and physical activity according to Dutch guidelines was assessed using customized questionnaires. Gait speed and handgrip strength were proxies of physical function and the Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess physical activity in minutes/week. Linear regression analysis, stratified by gender and adjusted for age, was used to study the association between continuous and categorical knowledge scores with outcomes. Results: In 106 older adults (mean age=70.1 SD=6.6, years) who were highly educated, well-functioning, and generally healthy, there were distinct knowledge gaps in nutrition and physical activity which did not correlate with one another (R2=0.013, p=0.245). Knowledge of nutrition or physical activity guidelines was not associated with physical function or physical activity. However, before age-adjustment nutrition knowledge was positively associated with HGS in males (B= 0.64 (95% CI: 0.05, 1.22)) and having knowledge above the median was associated with faster gait speed in females (B=0.10 (95% CI: 0.01, 0.19)). Conclusion: Our findings may represent a ceiling effect of the impact knowledge has on physical function and activity in the this high performing and educated population and that there may be other determinants of behavior leading to health status such as attitude and perception to consider in future studies.Additional authors: Nadine Correia Santos, Sarianna Sipilä, Janice L Thompson, Carel GM Meskers, Marijke C Trappenburg, Andrea B Maie