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Updated: Oct 17, 2026
A Protocol For Uncovering Neural Mechanisms Of Neurotherapeutic Effects On Electroencephalography Using The Human Neocortical Neurosolver
Published on: May 19, 2026
Ketogenic Diet and Neurological Health: A Narrative Review with Natural Language Processing-Assisted Thematic Mapping
Benneng Jin1, Zhe Chen1, Ruijin Xie2
1School of Education, Yangzhou Polytechnic University, Yangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Background:
The ketogenic diet (KD) is an established therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy and is increasingly investigated across other neurological disorders.
Objective:
To provide an updated narrative synthesis of recent mechanistic and clinical evidence on KD across neurological disorders, including its therapeutic applications, potential mechanisms, and current evidence gaps, and to use BERTopic as a supplementary natural language processing tool to characterize major research themes and temporal changes in research emphasis.
Methods:
Literature published from 2021 to early 2026 was retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. After deduplication and eligibility screening, 1017 records were included in BERTopic analysis. PubMedBERT, UMAP, HDBSCAN, and c-TF-IDF were used for thematic mapping; interpretation and evidence synthesis remained expert-guided. Temporal analyses were restricted to 2021-2025.
Results:
Seven thematic clusters were retained, with increased representation of gut-brain-axis-related publications after 2023. Narrative synthesis highlighted energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, neurotransmitter regulation, and the gut-brain axis as major mechanistic domains. Clinical evidence was strongest for drug-resistant epilepsy, while findings for Alzheimer's disease and migraine were less mature and those for Parkinson's disease remained preliminary.
Conclusion:
KD is an established therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy and shows potential across other neurological disorders, particularly Alzheimer's disease and migraine. Its effects may involve energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, neurotransmitter regulation, and the gut-brain axis. BERTopic-assisted mapping complemented the narrative synthesis by summarizing major research themes and temporal trends.
