AMBROSIAC - A Menu for Brain Responses Opposing Stress-Induced Alterations in Cognition

饮食和营养习惯在一生中对大脑健康、心理和认知健康有很大影响。特定膳食营养素的相对丰度取决于摄入量、生物利用度和新陈代谢，通过调节神经元功能和突触可塑性的直接和间接机制影响心理健康和认知能力。最佳营养是全世界健康老龄化人口福祉的关键决定因素，因为老龄化的特点是新陈代谢和体内平衡过程随着时间的推移而下降，以及与年龄有关的认知障碍，从而导致功能下降和疾病风险增加。慢性应激已被证明会对大脑的可塑性和认知表现产生负面影响，特别是在老化的大脑中。有趣的是，衰老的大脑在行为和细胞水平上都与压力大脑相似，压力导致的认知变化在老年人中可能更加明显。同样，不良的营养习惯被假设为与老年人更高的应激反应性和敏感度以及更大的认知衰退相关，支持了营养因素和应激敏感度之间的相互作用是认知表现和年龄相关认知衰退的关键决定因素的概念。

Diet and nutritional habits significantly impact on brain fitness, mental and cognitive health throughout life. The relative abundance of specific dietary nutrients, depending on intake, bioavailability and metabolism, affects mental health and cognitive ability via direct and indirect mechanisms that modulate neuronal function and synaptic plasticity. Optimum nutrition is a key determinant in the well-being of the healthy ageing population world-wide, as ageing is characterized by a decline in metabolism and homeostatic processes as well as age-related cognitive impairment over time, leading to functional decline and increased risk for disease. Chronic stress has been shown to negatively impact brain plasticity and cognitive performance, in particular in the ageing brain. Interestingly, the aged brain resembles the stressed brain on both behavioural and cellular levels and stress-induced cognitive alterations are likely to be more marked in the elderly. Likewise, poor nutritional habits are hypothesized to correlate with a heightened stress reactivity and susceptibility and greater cognitive decline in elderly, supporting the notion that interactions between nutritional factors and stress susceptibility represent critical determinants of cognitive performance and age-related cognitive decline.