NuBrain: UK Consortium for Optimal Nutrition for Healthy Brain Ageing

认知功能会随着年龄的增长而自然下降，在一些人身上，这将进展到不同程度的认知障碍或痴呆。全球人口寿命延长；据预测，到2050年，60岁及以上人口将达到20亿。因此，据预测，在这段时间内，痴呆症的患病率将几乎增加两倍。痴呆症和其他认知障碍造成的健康、经济和社会负担是深远的，精神健康被认为是最大的全球挑战之一。目前明显缺乏有效的药物来预防或治疗痴呆症。因此，迫切需要确定一)哪些人风险最大，以及二)哪些生活方式因素可以改变认知，从而支持我们老龄化人口更好的大脑健康。来自动物和种群观察性研究的越来越多的有力证据表明，整个生命过程中的营养对与年龄相关的认知能力下降有着深远的影响。然而，到目前为止，人们对哪些饮食模式、食物和食物成分在衰老过程中影响大脑功能以及在什么摄入量和哪些人群亚组(年龄、性别、疾病进展阶段等)方面的了解有限。是反应最灵敏的。正如英国卫生部最近的一份报告(SACN 2018，关于饮食、认知障碍和痴呆症的声明)所强调的那样，非常需要在人类中进行适合目的的干预研究，以有意义地推进我们目前对营养策略在大脑健康中潜力的理解。我们的合作将致力于解决这些知识差距，长期目标是通过更好地了解营养对大脑健康的影响来改善大脑老化。这需要来自多个学科的科学家之间进行新的合作，他们中的许多人以前没有合作过，或者以前没有从事过营养研究。NuBrain联盟将把人类营养学、翻译流行病学、信息学、脑成像、神经科学、行为科学、公共卫生和政策方面的专业知识和技术与临床精神病学专业知识结合起来，在营养和大脑老化的研究方面产生阶段性变化。我们将与业界和零售商、政府、政策制定者、慈善机构和公众接触，确保研究结果具有相关性，并通过有效和及时的食品创新和公共卫生政策等方式，最大限度地增加翻译机会，以改善公众健康。该联盟进行的初步研究将侧重于利用几项关键队列研究的信息，以更好地了解饮食干预对不同目标人群健康大脑老化的潜在好处。我们也会进行可行性研究，以进一步了解如何支持长期饮食行为改变，以及不同干预工具和方法的有效性，以帮助实现这一目标。随着财团的发展，将为进一步的可行性研究提供资金。我们将支持相关领域的早期职业研究人员(ECR)发展新的技能和专业知识，并促进营养和脑老化研究的创新。该财团将把ECR暴露给新的合作者、潜在的行业合作伙伴和其他重要机构，如阿尔茨海默氏症研究英国和英国公共卫生。这对该领域的能力建设和培养下一代多学科研究人员非常重要。这笔资金还将作为该财团制定未来资金投标的催化剂，以继续发展这一领域的研究。我们将积极寻求(I)吸引新成员和进一步发展财团内的专业知识的方法，以及(Ii)向资助机构寻求更多资金，以加强和扩大合作的工作。

Cognitive function declines naturally with age and in some individuals, this will progress to differing degrees of cognitive impairment or to dementia Globally the human population is living longer; it is predicted that by 2050, the number of people aged 60 years and over will reach two billion. As a result, it is predicted that dementia prevalence will almost triple during this timeframe. The health, economic and social burden of dementia and other cognitive disorders is profound and mental health is considered to be one of the greatest global challenges. There is currently a distinct lack of effective medications to prevent or treat dementias. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify i) which individuals are at greatest risk and ii) which lifestyle factors can modify cognition and therefore target to support better brain health in our ageing population. There is strong and growing evidence from animal and population observational studies that nutrition throughout the life-course has a profound impact on age-associated cognitive decline. However, as yet, there is limited understanding of which dietary patterns, foods and food components influence brain function during ageing and at what intakes and which population subgroups (age, sex, stage of disease progression etc.) are most responsive. As highlighted in a recent UK Department of Health Report (SACN 2018, Statement on Diet, Cognitive Impairment and Dementias) there is a great need to conduct fit-for-purpose intervention studies in humans to meaningfully advance our current understanding of the potential of nutrition strategies in brain health. Our collaboration will aim to address these knowledge gaps with the long-term aim of improving brain ageing through better understanding of the impact of nutrition on brain health. This requires a new collaboration between scientists from multiple disciplines, many of whom have not collaborated before or who have not previously engaged in nutrition research. The NuBrain consortium will bring together expertise and techniques in human nutrition, translational epidemiology, informatics, brain imaging, neuroscience, behavioural science and public health and policy along with clinical psychiatry expertise to produce a step change in research on nutrition and brain ageing. We will engage with industry and retailers, government, policy makers, charities and the public to ensure that research findings are relevant and to maximise opportunities for translation via e.g. food product innovation and public health policy in an effective and timely manner to improve public health. Initial studies carried out by the consortium will focus on utilising information from several key cohort studies to better understand the potential benefits of dietary interventions for healthy brain ageing in different target populations. We will also carry out feasibility studies to further understand how to support long term dietary behaviour change and the efficacy of different intervention tools and methodologies to help achieve this. Further feasibility studies will be funded as the consortium develops. We will support early career researchers (ECRs) in relevant fields to develop new skills and expertise and foster innovation in nutrition and brain ageing research. The consortium will expose ECRs to new collaborators, potential industry partners and other important bodies such as Alzheimer's Research UK and Public Health England. This is important to build capacity and develop the next generation of multidisciplinary researchers in this area. This funding will also act as a catalyst for the consortium to develop future funding bids to continue to develop the research in this area. We will actively seek ways to (i) attract new members and further develop the expertise within the consortium and (ii) seek further funding from funding bodies to strengthen and expand the work of the collaboration.