About this Research Topic
Ageing is an extremely important issue facing modern society. Nutrition has multi-faceted effects throughout the body, modulating complex processes such as metabolism, immune function, and the microbial profile which subsequently shape the ageing process.
The brain is a high energy-demanding organ – as such, deficits in brain metabolism and brain nutrient uptake increase brain vulnerability to ageing processes. Indeed, many metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity, are described as risk factors for the development of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease. It is posited that this can be, at least in part, explained by the generation of reactive oxygen species, causing oxidative stress and, ultimately, the structural destabilization and aggregation of proteins such as transthyretin, synuclein, amyloid precursor protein, Huntingtin and other aggregation-prone proteins.
Although it has been recognized that nutrition plays a key role in the brain's biological processes, less is known about the role of nutrition in the regulation of cognitive function. More investigations are needed to integrate how nutrition and the brain are interlinked to impact human health metabolically, physiologically, and behaviorally.
These biological and cognitional relationships are complex and multidirectional complicating the overall picture. Moreover, microbial and immune interactions add further complexity to the overall picture, and it is clear that our understanding of brain nutrition throughout ageing is far from complete.
In this Research Topic, we welcome original research articles, reviews, case reports, clinical trials addressing, but not limited to, the following sub-topics:
• Interventions for maintaining and preserving brain function throughout the ageing process.
• Novel evidence in the neurodegenerative effect of dysregulated metabolic processes, such as protein misfolding and loss of function, and modification of key metabolic enzymes in the brain.
• Dietary patterns, macronutrients, micronutrients, and bioactive nutrients and their impact upon the ageing brain in context of health and disease.
• Studies on the effects of diet combined with lifestyle on the onset of neuronal damage and on the regulation of cognitive function.
• Focus on ‘ageing’ will be required – however, early interventions and risk exposure will be considered if shown to influence aspects of brain ageing in later life.
The brain is a high energy-demanding organ – as such, deficits in brain metabolism and brain nutrient uptake increase brain vulnerability to ageing processes. Indeed, many metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity, are described as risk factors for the development of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease. It is posited that this can be, at least in part, explained by the generation of reactive oxygen species, causing oxidative stress and, ultimately, the structural destabilization and aggregation of proteins such as transthyretin, synuclein, amyloid precursor protein, Huntingtin and other aggregation-prone proteins.
Although it has been recognized that nutrition plays a key role in the brain's biological processes, less is known about the role of nutrition in the regulation of cognitive function. More investigations are needed to integrate how nutrition and the brain are interlinked to impact human health metabolically, physiologically, and behaviorally.
These biological and cognitional relationships are complex and multidirectional complicating the overall picture. Moreover, microbial and immune interactions add further complexity to the overall picture, and it is clear that our understanding of brain nutrition throughout ageing is far from complete.
In this Research Topic, we welcome original research articles, reviews, case reports, clinical trials addressing, but not limited to, the following sub-topics:
• Interventions for maintaining and preserving brain function throughout the ageing process.
• Novel evidence in the neurodegenerative effect of dysregulated metabolic processes, such as protein misfolding and loss of function, and modification of key metabolic enzymes in the brain.
• Dietary patterns, macronutrients, micronutrients, and bioactive nutrients and their impact upon the ageing brain in context of health and disease.
• Studies on the effects of diet combined with lifestyle on the onset of neuronal damage and on the regulation of cognitive function.
• Focus on ‘ageing’ will be required – however, early interventions and risk exposure will be considered if shown to influence aspects of brain ageing in later life.
Keywords: Neurodegeneration, Brain Ageing, Metabolic Processes, Protein Misfolding, Macronutrients, Micronutrients, Bioactive Compounds, Lifestyle, Cognition
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
