NUTRITION FOR THE AGING BRAIN: FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS AND STRATEGIES

Aging is a highly complex process marked by a temporal cascade of events that promote alterations in the normal functioning of an individual organism. The triggers of normal brain aging are not well understood, even less so the factors which initiate abnormal cognitive decline or steer neuronal degeneration which underlies disorders such as dementia. A wealth of data on how nutrients and diets may support cognitive function and preserve brain health is available yet the neurobiological mechanisms of action of nutrition in both normal aging, age-related cognitive decline and in the development of neurodegenerative disorders have not been clearly elucidated. This talk aims at evaluating the vulnerabilities associated with poor cognitive aging, highlighting potential protective mechanisms and evaluate dietary interventions as a strategy to promote these mechanisms, and addressing vulnerabilities which predispose towards accelerated or dysfunctional brain aging. This presentation will focus on some of the current state of knowledge on nutrition and cognitive aging reflecting the academic academic research talks and discussions held during the 2nd workshop 'Nutrition for the Aging Brain: Functional Aspects and Mechanisms', held in Copenhagen in June 2016 and produced by the Nutrition and Mental Performance Task Force under the auspice of the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe). In the first part of this talk, we will examine early-life stress, the gut-microbiome and non-communicable diseases such as obesity and diabetes as vulnerabilities associated with poor cognitive aging. We will then highlight potential cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating cognitive health such as adult hippocampal neurogenesis, inflammation and epigenetics. Finally, we will show evidence that those mechanisms can be targeted and modified by nutritional intervention such as Omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols to mitigate cognitive aging. Conclusion: We will conclude that future research on the impact of nutrition on cognitive aging will need to adopt a "longitudinal" approach to ensure the effect of early-life is adequately controlled, and multimodal nutritional interventions will likely need to be imposed in early-life to observe significant impact in older age.