Poster No:
906
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Felicity Simpson1, Jenna Johnson1, Karen Murphy2, Alexandra Wade3, Ashlee Harvey4, Nicholas Ware1, Clare Collins1, Daniel Barker1, Monica Fabiani5, Gabriele Gratton5, Ashleigh Smith2, Frini Karayanidis1
Institutions:
1Univeristy of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, 2University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, 3Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, 4University of South Australia, Adelaide, NSW, 5University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign , IL
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Karen Murphy
University of South Australia
Adelaide, South Australia
Ashleigh Smith
University of South Australia
Adelaide, South Australia
Introduction:
Healthful dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet, may slow cognitive decline and attenuate dementia risk, through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity or cardiometabolic factors [1]. However, the neurobiological mechanisms that underpin the effect of diet on brain health are not yet well defined. Given the strong association between dietary habits and peripheral arterial stiffness, the current study investigated the association between diet and frontal cerebral arterial elasticity using a novel, non-invasive brain imaging technique, pulse Diffuse Optical Tomography (pulse-DOT).
Methods:
Participants aged 60 to 70 years underwent cognitive screening via telephone using the Blind-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (B-MoCA) to confirm cognitive functioning above the dementia threshold (>18/30). Mediterranean diet scores [2] were quantified through the Australian Eating Survey. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was measured through a 7-day accelerometer protocol. Sex-specific energy intake cutoffs: 2092 to 14644 kJ for females and 3347 to 17573 kJ for males, to exclude implausible dietary data from the analysis.
The Pulse Relaxation Function (PReFx) was calculated to assess cerebral arterial elasticity using pulse-DOT. PReFx is derived from near-infrared (NIR) light absorption fluctuations caused by the cyclical variations in blood volume associated with cardiac cycles [2]. PReFx reflects the extent to which cerebral arteries retain their expanded volume post-systole and is significantly associated with age, cognition and cerebrovascular brain measures [3, 4, 5].
Results:
The final sample included 155 older adults (51% female). In a model adjusted for age, sex, and education (Model 2), a higher Mediterranean diet score was significantly associated with increased PReFx (standardised β = 0.19, p = 0.008). Age showed a significant negative association with PReFx (β = -0.27, p < 0.001), and males exhibited lower PReFx compared to females (β = -0.41, p < 0.001).
When considering all covariates in the model (age, sex, years of education, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and total energy intake), higher Mediterranean diet score remained significantly associated with increased PReFX, although the effect size was reduced (standardised β = 0.16, p = 0.025). MVPA was also significantly positively associated with PReFX (standardised β = 0.29, p < 0.001). Age showed a significant negative association with PReFX (standardised β = -0.24, p = 0.001) and there was lower PReFX in males, compared to females (standardised β = -0.45, p < 0.001). In the third model with all covariates the overall model explained 33.58% of the variance.
Conclusions:
These findings provide early evidence for a link between dietary habits and frontal cerebrovascular health in an older adult population. Given the critical role of the frontal lobes in age-related cognitive decline, the observed association between Mediterranean diet adherence and preserved cerebral arterial elasticity (PReFx)-a measure known to decline with age and relate to cognition-suggests a promising pathway through which diet may support brain health and mitigate age-related functional decline. Additionally, the significant positive association between MVPA and PReFx highlights the importance of physical activity in maintaining cerebrovascular elasticity and promoting healthy brain ageing.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Neurodegenerative/ Late Life (eg. Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s)
Lifespan Development:
Aging 1
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
NIRS 2
Physiology, Metabolism and Neurotransmission:
Cerebral Metabolism and Hemodynamics
Keywords:
Aging
Cerebrovascular Disease
Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy (NIRS)
Optical Imaging Systems (OIS)
Other - nutrition
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Please indicate below if your study was a "resting state" or "task-activation” study.
Other
Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Healthy subjects
Was this research conducted in the United States?
No
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel?
NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
Yes
Were any animal research approved by the relevant IACUC or other animal research panel?
NOTE: Any animal studies without IACUC approval will be automatically rejected.
Not applicable
Please indicate which methods were used in your research:
Optical Imaging
For human MRI, what field strength scanner do you use?
3.0T
Which processing packages did you use for your study?
Other, Please list
-
opt3d,
Provide references using APA citation style.
1. Petersson, S. D., & Philippou, E. (2016). Mediterranean diet, cognitive function, and dementia: a systematic review of the evidence. Advances in Nutrition, 7(5), 889-904. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.116.012138
2. Dietary patterns: A Mediterranean diet score and its relation to clinical and biological markers of cardiovascular disease risk. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2005.08.006
3. Fabiani, M., Low, K. A., Tan, C. H., Zimmerman, B., Fletcher, M. A., Schneider-Garces, N., Maclin, E. L., Chiarelli, A. M., Sutton, B. P., & Gratton, G. (2014). Taking the pulse of aging: Mapping pulse pressure and elasticity in cerebral arteries with optical methods. Psychophysiology, 51(11), 1072–1088. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12288
4. Tan, C. H., Low, K. A., Chiarelli, A. M., Fletcher, M. A., Navarra, R., Burzynska, A. Z., Kong, T. S., Zimmerman, B., Maclin, E. L., Sutton, B. P., Gratton, G., & Fabiani, M. (2019). Optical measures of cerebral arterial stiffness are associated with white matter signal abnormalities and cognitive performance in normal aging. Neurobiology of Aging, 84, 200–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.08.004
5. Tan, C. H., Low, K. A., Kong, T., Fletcher, M. A., Zimmerman, B., MacLin, E. L., Chiarelli, A. M., Gratton, G., & Fabiani, M. (2017). Mapping cerebral pulse pressure and arterial compliance over the adult lifespan with optical imaging. PLoS ONE, 12(2), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171305
No