Impact of the mind diet on cognition and white matter integrity in an older adult cohort
Key, Mickeal Nelay
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120330
Description
Title
Impact of the mind diet on cognition and white matter integrity in an older adult cohort
Author(s)
Key, Mickeal Nelay
Issue Date
2023-01-09
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Barbey, Aron K.
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Barbey, Aron K.
Committee Member(s)
Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A. L.
Llano, Daniel
Gupta, Arpana "Annie"
Department of Study
Neuroscience Program
Discipline
Neuroscience
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
MIND Diet
Cognition
Neuroimaging
Abstract
The research aim of this dissertation was to understand the impact of the Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet on cognition and white matter integrity in a cohort of cognitively normal older adults. As the aging population increases world-wide and incidence of dementia climbs in concert, lifestyle interventions to prevent or delay cognitive decline are of great interest for reducing the number of individuals with dementia and curbing the demand for age-related healthcare services. These preventative approaches that focus on factors like diet and exercise, have the potential to not only provide much needed tools to healthcare providers, but also have the potential to inform public health policy as well. Identifying a brain healthy diet and understanding its implications for both cognitive performance and brain structure underlies the significance of this research aim. Diet history data over a 12-month period and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were collected from 111 older adults between the ages of 65-75. After accounting for covariates of age, sex, education, income, energy intake, body mass index, and estimate of cardiorespiratory fitness, there was a relationship between MIND diet scores and white matter structure. Specifically, MIND diet scores were positively associated white matter volume of the frontal pole. This study was not able to provide evidence for the relationship between MIND diet scores and general cognitive ability, domain specific measures of cognition, or global measures of brain aging such as inflammation. The current study contributes to the existing literature by broadening the scope of investigation concerning the MIND diet’s impact on the aging brain at the structural and physiological level.
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