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Published on: November 1, 2019
Mediterranean-type diet and brain structural change from 73 to 76 years in a Scottish cohort
Michelle Luciano1, Janie Corley2, Simon R Cox2
1From the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology (M.L., J.C., S.R.C., I.J.D.), Department of Psychology (M.L., J.C., S.R.C., I.J.D.), Brain Research Imaging Centre (M.C.V.H., D.A.D., M.E.B., J.M.W.), Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences (M.C.V.H., D.A.D., M.E.B., J.M.W.), and Scottish Imaging Network, A Platform for Scientific Excellence (SINAPSE) Collaboration, Department of Neuroimaging Sciences (S.R.C., M.C.V.H., D.A.D., M.E.B., J.M.W.), University of Edinburgh; Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health (L.C.A.C.) and The Institute of Applied Health Sciences (G.M.M.), University of Aberdeen, UK; and Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital and Douglas Mental Health University Institute (S.K.), McGill University, Canada. michelle.luciano@ed.ac.uk.
Objective:
To assess the association between Mediterranean-type diet (MeDi) and change in brain MRI volumetric measures and mean cortical thickness across a 3-year period in older age (73-76 years).
Methods:
We focused on 2 longitudinal brain volumes (total and gray matter; n = 401 and 398, respectively) plus a longitudinal measurement of cortical thickness (n = 323), for which the previous cross-sectional evidence of an association with the MeDi was strongest. Adherence to the MeDi was calculated from data gathered from a food frequency questionnaire at age 70, 3 years prior to the baseline imaging data collection.
Results:
In regression models adjusting for relevant demographic and physical health indicators, we found that lower adherence to the MeDi was associated with greater 3-year reduction in total brain volume (explaining 0.5% of variance, p < 0.05). This effect was half the size of the largest covariate effect (i.e., age). Cross-sectional associations between MeDi and baseline MRI measures in 562 participants were not significant. Targeted analyses of meat and fish consumption did not replicate previous associations with total brain volume or total gray matter volume.
Conclusions:
Lower adherence to the MeDi in an older Scottish cohort is predictive of total brain atrophy over a 3-year interval. Fish and meat consumption does not drive this change, suggesting that other components of the MeDi or, possibly, all of its components in combination are responsible for the association.
