Dietary flavonoids as cognitive enhancers
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1
Swinburne University, Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Australia
Cognitive processes involve multiple mechanisms which interact in complex, and possibly idiosyncratic ways. Monopharmacological treatments for brain disorders (including cognitive decline and dementia) have therefore had little impact. Over the past two decades there has been a rapid growth in research into the human behavioural effects of nutritional interventions, functional foods and neurochemically-characterised dietary supplements. It may be that by affecting multiple systems, bioactive nutrients, including widely consumed plant flavonoids may offer a more promising approach. This talk will draw on specific examples from a ten year systematic assessment of the behavioural effects of functional food interventions including cocoa flavanols, resveratrol from red wine and curcumin from turmeric. A series of double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover studies have been conducted to evaluate the potential for encapsulated flavonoids and flavonoid-enriched fractions of diet to improve cognitive functioning. These include both acute and chronic studies including neurochemical characterisation, as well as evaluation of cognitive outcomes, brain activation (via neuroimaging) and biomarkers of underlying mechanisms. Cocoa flavanols acutely improved effortful mental functioning, in a dose-dependent manner, whereas chronically they differentially improved mood. Where conducted, brain imaging studies suggest that these effects are linked to improved neural efficiency underpinned by increased blood flow to task-relevant neural structures. A lipidated curcumin preparation improved working memory and reduced fatigue in an older healthy cohort. Resveratrol increased central blood flow and may improve cognitive performance in compromised populations. These studies have demonstrated that dietary flavonoids from a number of sources are capable of improving neurocognitive functioning both acutely and chronically. The mechanisms underlying these effects are not fully elucidated but likely include neurochemical influences on systemic and cerebral blood flow. Preliminary studies in clinical populations suggest that these interventions may be effective in the treatment of age-related cognitive decline.
Keywords:
Curcumin,
Flavonoids,
resveratrol,
cognitive decline,
cognitive enhancers
Conference:
14th Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 27 Aug - 30 Aug, 2016.
Presentation Type:
Symposium 5: Boosting Brain Function with Nutraceuticals: What is the Evidence and how might they Work
Topic:
14th Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry
Citation:
Scholey
A
(2016). Dietary flavonoids as cognitive enhancers.
Conference Abstract:
14th Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fncel.2016.36.00021
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Received:
26 Jul 2016;
Published Online:
11 Aug 2016.
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Correspondence:
Prof. Andrew Scholey, Swinburne University, Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, andrew@scholeylab.com