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Sugar Processing in the Brain
Insights at the molecular level suggest that obesity may have neuronal origins in an area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens, giving us a new perspective on the causes of obesity.
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Vitamin D & Dementia
Results of a large prospective cohort study were recently published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, describing the association between vitamin D supplementation and dementia incidence within the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) cohort. As the authors point out, there is considerable interest in vitamin D as a potential modifier of risk, as dementia affects 50 million…
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Berberine: The Gut-Brain-Heart Connection
Most of us have heard about the gut-brain connection, how nearly 90% of the body’s serotonin is actually made in the digestive tract, and how the gut-brain axis is the missing link in depression. Gut health and the landscape of the gut microbiota influence many aspects of our health, so it is no surprise that…
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MCTs’ Potential Effect on Gait & Brain Metabolism
The results of a randomized double-blinded and placebo-controlled trial examining the effect of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) supplementation on gait balance and markers of brain metabolism in healthy elderly adults were recently published in Geroscience. Sixty-three participants over age 65 completed the study over a 3-month period, with the experimental group ramping up to a dose…
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Polyphenols & Brain Atrophy
A recent study has shown that a green Mediterranean (green-MED) diet, high in polyphenols and low in red and processed meat, seems to slow age-related brain atrophy, and may provide a simple, safe avenue to slower age-related neurodegeneration.
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Meat Consumption and Brain Health
In a population-based prospective cohort study, nearly 500,000 participants in the UK (aged 40-69) were followed over an average of 8 years, during which nearly 3,000 cases of dementia occurred, of which approximately 1000 were classified as Alzheimer’s disease and 500 as vascular dementia. The relationship between meat consumption and cognitive health has had mixed…
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DHA Pathway to the Brain
The health benefits of two omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), seem indisputable and range from supporting cardiovascular health and body composition to the promotion of healthy inflammatory pathways. Lately, however, DHA has received a brighter spotlight due to its ability to influence the structure, function, and signaling of the brain.…
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Sound Shapes the Fetal Brain Before the Ear Canal Opens
New experiments on newborn mice have uncovered that sounds may change the “wiring” of sound processing areas of the brain earlier than previously thought, and even before the ear canal opens.
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Decoding How The Brain Senses Smell
A recent study from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, which was published in the journal Science, discovered an electrical signal that is turned into a smell in mice brains. The researchers created man-made energy signatures that triggered the olfactory bulb in mice. Lead investigator Edmund Chong, MS, a doctoral student at NYU Langone Health stated,…
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Study Connects MCH Brain Circuit to Impulsive Eating
In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers identified a circuit in the brain that is thought to alter food impulsivity. Scientists from UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences discovered a circuit in the brain that is responsible for the ability to say no to food triggers – the same triggers that…