Diet and the Adolescent Brain

项目总结 在过去的几十年里，美国和其他国家的儿童饮食质量急剧下降 发达国家，不健康食品的摄入量增加，健康食品的消费减少 食物。儿童饮食对肥胖和慢性病的影响已经得到了很好的研究，但最近 有证据表明，儿童的饮食也会影响他们的行为、情感和学习功能。 然而，人们对这些效应背后的神经底物知之甚少。动物实验 模型令人信服地证明，“西式”饮食--高饱和脂肪和添加糖--有 通过额叶、边缘和大脑的损害对认知和行为产生深刻的负面影响 大脑的海马区。然而，很少有研究研究饮食和饮食之间的联系。 人类的大脑。饮食、行为和学业成绩之间的关系尤其重要。 与饮食质量通常恶化的青春期早期有关；行为、情绪和 学术问题增多；大脑经历了快速发展和重组，这使得 它更容易受到环境的影响。因为我们几乎对此一无所知 饮食对青少年大脑的影响，这个R21应用程序旨在检查青少年与 饮食和脑白质微结构、神经化学以及与1)持续任务相关的大脑功能 注意力，2)学习和记忆，3)情绪和行为调节。我们利用纵向、 通过正在进行的青少年饮食研究收集的多源数据，该研究进行了整整一周的 每年对288名中学生进行每日24小时饮食回忆和午餐观察。 八年级。这个R21项目将增加单一的神经成像课程、智商筛查和营养 在8年级评估后，随机选择80名参与者的生物标记物。集成的数据来自 这两项研究将使我们能够确定饱和脂肪和添加糖的摄入量与 青春期大脑行为、情感和学习功能的关键方面-- 脑白质微结构、神经化学和大脑功能对注意力、言语记忆、 以及情绪和行为规范。更好地理解饮食和饮食之间的联系 青少年大脑将促进更有效的公共卫生宣传和营养干预 促进健康的大脑发育，改善儿童的情绪、行为和学习成绩 青春年华。

PROJECT SUMMARY The quality of children’s diet has deteriorated tremendously over the last decades in the U.S. and other developed countries, with increased intake of unhealthy foods and decreased consumption of healthy foods. The effects of children’s diet on obesity and chronic disease have been well-studied, but recent evidence suggests that children’s diet also affects their behavioral, emotional, and academic functioning. However, little is known about the neural substrates that may underlie these effects. Studies with animal models convincingly demonstrate that ‘Western’ diet – high in saturated fat and added sugars – has a profound negative effects on cognition and behavior through impairments in frontal, limbic, and hippocampal areas of the brain. However, few studies have examined connections between diet and the brain in humans. The relationships between diet, behavior, and academic outcomes are particularly relevant in early adolescence when diet quality typically deteriorates; behavioral, emotional, and academic problems increase; and the brain undergoes rapid development and reorganization that make it more vulnerable to environmental influences. Because virtually nothing is known about the impact of diet on the adolescent brain, this R21 application aims to examine associations between adolescents’ diet and white matter microstructure, neurochemistry, and brain function on tasks related to 1) sustained attention, 2) learning and memory, and 3) emotional and behavioral regulation. We leverage longitudinal, multi-source data collected through the ongoing Adolescent Diet Study, which conducts a full week of daily 24-hour diet recalls and lunch observations on 288 middle school students annually in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. This R21 project would add a single neuroimaging session, IQ screen, and nutrition biomarkers for a random subset of 80 participants after the 8th grade assessment. Integrated data from both studies will allow us to determine the relationships of intake of saturated fats and added sugars with key aspects of the adolescent brain that underlie behavioral, emotional, and academic functioning – white matter microstructure, neurochemistry, and brain function on tasks of attention, verbal memory, and emotional and behavioral regulation. Better understanding of the connections between diet and the adolescent brain will facilitate more effective public health messaging and nutrition-focused interventions to enhance healthy brain development and improve emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes of youth.