Promoting healthy brain aging is of increasing concern to an aging population as the baby boom generation approaches age 65. Dietary management has received a great deal of interest as mounting evidence from observational studies suggests dietary factors may be associated with the risk of developing neurological diseases, including cerebrovascular diseases and cognitive decline, in the elderly. Many of the neurological diseases of aging are known to develop as a result of subclinical brain changes. These brain changes can now be visualized and quantified using MRI; therefore MRI markers of brain changes are worth being considered to better understand the association between diet and brain aging. Neuroimaging markers are extremely sensitive measurements of changes occurring in the aging brain, and can also help us understand better the associations of different aspects of diet with specific changes of brain dysfunction. Current literature on the associations between diet and neuroimaging markers in the elderly has been extremely sparse. In particular, dietary patterns and longitudinal change of neuroimaging marker have been rarely investigated. Our previous work shows that higher adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet was associated with lower prevalence of subclinical brain infarcts but not white matter hyperintensity, emphasizing the value of exploring dietary patterns and multiple imaging markers. The overall aim of this study is to examine how dietary factors are related with brain changes seen on MRI imaging. Specifically, the proposed study will examine the association between dietary factors (both individual nutrients and dietary patterns) and neuroimaging changes of the brain (including global and regional brain atrophy measured by volume and cortical thickness, white matter hyperintensity, subclinical brain infarcts) through a series of studies including: during the mentored phase, (1) a cross-sectional study of the relationship between baseline dietary factors and above-mentioned neuroimaging markers using data from the Washington Heights Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP) -II Imaging Study; and during the independent phase, (2) a longitudinal study of the association between baseline diet and change of these imaging markers in a subset of WHICAP-II Imaging Study participants who have repeated imaging evaluations, (3) a cross-sectional replication study based on data from an on-going WHICAP-2010 Imaging Study to examine the reproducibility of the study (1) findings, and (4) a cross-sectional exploratory study based on data from an on-going WHICAP-2010 Imaging Study to explore the relationship between diet and two additional MRI markers collected in WHICAP-2010, cerebral blood flow and brain connectivity. Findings from this study will contribute to our understanding of the role of dietary factors in imaging markers of brain aging.

Public Health Relevance

Promoting healthy brain aging is of increasing concern to an aging population as the baby boom generation approaches age 65. This proposal aims to understand the relationship between dietary factors and imagining markers of brain aging. Information generated through this research effort is essential to fill research gaps and inform human risk assessment.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Transition Award (R00)
Project #
5R00AG042483-05
Application #
9281598
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (NSS)
Program Officer
Wise, Bradley C
Project Start
2015-09-01
Project End
2018-05-31
Budget Start
2017-06-15
Budget End
2018-05-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
$235,454
Indirect Cost
$88,295
Name
Columbia University (N.Y.)
Department
Neurology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
621889815
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10032
Gu, Yian; Manly, Jennifer J; Mayeux, Richard P et al. (2018) An Inflammation-related Nutrient Pattern is Associated with Both Brain and Cognitive Measures in a Multiethnic Elderly Population. Curr Alzheimer Res 15:493-501
Gu, Yian; Vorburger, Robert; Scarmeas, Nikolaos et al. (2017) Circulating inflammatory biomarkers in relation to brain structural measurements in a non-demented elderly population. Brain Behav Immun 65:150-160
Lara, Elvira; Haro, Josep Maria; Tang, Ming-Xin et al. (2016) Exploring the excess mortality due to depressive symptoms in a community-based sample: The role of Alzheimer's Disease. J Affect Disord 202:163-70
Heymann, Devorah; Stern, Yaakov; Cosentino, Stephanie et al. (2016) The Association Between Alcohol Use and the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease. Curr Alzheimer Res 13:1356-1362
Tsapanou, Angeliki; Gu, Yian; O'Shea, Deirdre et al. (2016) Self-Reported Sleep Disordered Breathing as Risk Factor for Mortality in the Elderly. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 25:1524-31
Gu, Yian; Vorburger, Robert S; Gazes, Yunglin et al. (2016) White matter integrity as a mediator in the relationship between dietary nutrients and cognition in the elderly. Ann Neurol 79:1014-25
Gu, Yian; Razlighi, Qolamreza R; Zahodne, Laura B et al. (2015) Brain Amyloid Deposition and Longitudinal Cognitive Decline in Nondemented Older Subjects: Results from a Multi-Ethnic Population. PLoS One 10:e0123743
Gu, Yian; Brickman, Adam M; Stern, Yaakov et al. (2015) Mediterranean diet and brain structure in a multiethnic elderly cohort. Neurology 85:1744-51
Tsapanou, Angeliki; Scarmeas, Nikolaos; Gu, Yian et al. (2015) Examining the association between Apolipoprotein E (APOE) and self-reported sleep disturbances in non-demented older adults. Neurosci Lett 606:72-6
Tsapanou, Angeliki; Gu, Yian; Manly, Jennifer et al. (2015) Daytime Sleepiness and Sleep Inadequacy as Risk Factors for Dementia. Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra 5:286-95

Showing the most recent 10 out of 11 publications