by A new study highlights the critical role of specific nutrients found in the Mediterranean diet in promoting brain health and slowing cognitive decline, providing a basis for future nutritional interventions.
Participants with slower brain aging had a nutritional profile similar to the Mediterranean diet.
Scientists are conducting extensive research on the brain to promote healthier ageing. While much is known about risk factors that accelerate brain aging, there is less understanding of how to prevent cognitive decline.
There is evidence that nutrition matters, and a novel study published on May 21 in the journal Nature Agingfrom the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign further indicate how specific nutrients may play a key role in healthy brain aging.
The team of scientists, led by Aron Barbey, director of the Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior, with Jisheng Wu, a doctoral student at Nebraska, and Christopher Zwilling, a research scientist at UIUC, conducted the multimodal study — compiling the state of – groundbreaking innovations in neuroscience and nutritional science — and identified a distinct nutritional profile in participants who performed better cognitively.
Study Design and Results
The cross-sectional study enrolled 100 cognitively healthy participants, aged 65-75 years. These participants completed a questionnaire with demographic information, body measurements, and physical activity. Blood 
Principal investigator Aron Barbey, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with doctoral student Jisheng Wu. Credit: Craig Chandler/University Communications and Marketing/University of Nebraska–Lincoln
The beneficial nutritional blood biomarkers were a combination of fatty acids (vaccenic, gondolic, alpha-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic, eicosadienoic, and lignoceric acids); antioxidants and carotenoids including cis-lutein, trans-lutein, and zeaxanthin; two forms of vitamin E and choline. This profile is correlated with nutrients found in the Mediterranean diet, which previous research has linked to healthy brain aging.
“We investigated specific nutritional biomarkers, such as lipids 
Christopher Zwilling is a research scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Credit: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
