Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

With an increasing aging population, research continues to illuminate factors that contribute to cognitive function in late life. A growing body of research shows the significant impact that diet patterns can have on cognitive functions. Consumption of a Western pattern diet (e.g., red meat, high fat, and low fruit and vegetable intake) has been shown to associate with poorer performance on tests of memory, attention, and executive functions (e.g., thinking speed). Despite these associations, the underlying mechanism that mediates, or explains, the association between diet consumption and cognition is unknown. The authors propose that oxidative stress, or an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in the body, may serve as the biological underpinning between diet and cognition. To test this hypothesis, data from a subset of the Quebec Longitudinal Study on Nutrition and Successful Aging was analyzed. In 351 older adult men and women, mediation analyses showed that oxidative stress, as measured by serum protein carbonyls, fully explained the relationship between Western pattern diet and the executive function, processing speed. Understanding the underlying mechanism between diet and cognition is important as it may be used to inform prevention or rehabilitation programs that aim to maintain or enhance cognitive health in late life.