Time: 3:00pm Eastern, Nov. 22, 2024
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
Link: Zoom Link
Password: 347291
Christopher Zwilling
QCB Assistant Director for Research and University of Illinois
Nutrition and Brain Aging
The emerging field of Nutritional Cognitive Neuroscience aims to uncover 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. In this talk, several recent studies providing evidence for the role of nutrition to promote healthy brain and cognitive function are reviewed, including nutrient profiles underlying optimal brain health (Zwilling et al. Nature Aging 2024); an intervention to improve cognitive function (Zwilling et al. Nature Scientific Reports 2020); and a principal components analysis of nutrients that revealed a Mediterranean-like diet as optimal for brain and cognitive health (Zwilling et al., NeuroImage 2019). This suite of results points to nutrients critical for brain health, including lipids, vitamins, and antioxidants. Their efficacy is proposed through several biological mechanisms, including their ability to pass through the blood-brain barrier; known metabolic pathways (e.g., B vitamins); and lipid metabolism of certain fatty acids.
