Abstract
Introduction: We evaluated whether regular dietary intake of nutrients commonly found in fish, unsaturated oils, and nuts would moderate the associations between neuroimaging biomarkers of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) and cognitive function in older adults. Methods: Dietary information, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were collected from 71 older adults without dementia (60–86 years). MRI biomarkers of cSVD were calculated for each participant. Multivariate linear regression models were computed using dietary intake as the moderating variable. Covariates included age, sex, and estimated intracranial volume. Results: Dietary intake moderated the association between several cSVD biomarkers and MoCA scores such that the expected negative association between cSVD biomarkers and cognition was seen at low levels of healthy dietary intake, but not at medium or high levels. A dietary intake by age moderation was not observed. Discussion: Our findings indicate that healthy dietary intake may confer cognitive reserve against cSVD in older adults.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1508148 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Neurology |
| Volume | 16 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:Copyright © 2025 Bauer, Zachariou, Pappas, Maillard, DeCarli, Caprihan and Gold.
Funding
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The present study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant nos. NIA P30 AG072946, NIA P30 AG028383 -15S1, NIA R01 AG055449, NIA R01 AG068055, NINDS RF1 NS122028, and NIGMS S10 OD023573). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of these granting agencies.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | |
| National Institute on Aging | R01 AG055449, P30 AG028383 -15S1, R01 AG068055, P30 AG072946 |
| National Institute on Aging | |
| Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council | RF1 NS122028 |
| Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council | |
| National Institute of General Medical Sciences DP2GM119177 Sophie Dumont National Institute of General Medical Sciences | S10 OD023573 |
| National Institute of General Medical Sciences DP2GM119177 Sophie Dumont National Institute of General Medical Sciences |
Keywords
- Mediterranean diet
- cerebral small vessel disease
- cerebrovascular disease
- cognitive reserve
- free water
- nutrition
- peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity
- vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology