Summary: A new multimodal study identifies a nutrient profile linked with slower brain aging in cognitively healthy older adults. By combining blood biomarker analysis, brain imaging, and cognitive testing, researchers found that a pattern of fatty acids, antioxidants, carotenoids, vitamin E, and choline—nutrients common in the Mediterranean diet—correlates with better cognitive performance and preserved brain structure and function.
The results support the idea that targeted nutrition can contribute to healthy brain aging and suggest directions for future intervention studies.
Key Facts:
- A distinct nutrient biomarker profile is associated with slower brain aging in adults aged 65–75.
- The profile includes specific fatty acids, antioxidants and carotenoids, vitamin E forms, and choline—nutrients frequently found in Mediterranean-style diets.
- The study used an integrated approach: fasting blood biomarkers, validated cognitive assessments, and multimodal MRI measures.
Source: University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Background: While research has documented many risk factors for accelerated brain aging, identifying practical, evidence-based strategies to preserve cognition with age remains a priority. Nutrition is an increasingly important focus in the field of Nutritional Cognitive Neuroscience, which seeks to identify specific foods and nutrients that support brain health.
Led by Aron Barbey, director of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, with collaborators at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the research team carried out a cross-sectional, multimodal study integrating contemporary methods from neuroscience and nutritional science. Their goal was to pinpoint nutrient biomarker patterns in blood that relate to differences in brain aging.
The study enrolled 100 cognitively healthy volunteers aged 65–75. Participants provided demographic and lifestyle information, underwent measurements of body composition and physical activity, completed validated cognitive tests, and received MRI scans. Fasting blood samples were collected to measure 13 diet-related biomarkers.
Using hierarchical clustering of neuroimaging and cognitive measures, researchers identified two brain-aging phenotypes among participants: one showing accelerated aging indicators and the other showing slower-than-expected aging. A follow-up comparison of blood biomarker levels revealed a nutrient pattern that differentiated these groups.
Participants with slower brain aging tended to have higher blood levels of a group of fatty acids—including vaccenic, gondoic, alpha-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic-related markers, eicosadienoic, and lignoceric acids—along with antioxidant carotenoids such as cis-lutein, trans-lutein and zeaxanthin, two forms of vitamin E, and choline. This combination mirrors, in part, nutrients emphasized by Mediterranean-style diets, which have been associated previously with cognitive and brain health.
Barbey noted that earlier nutrition studies often relied on food frequency questionnaires, which depend on participant recall and can introduce error. In contrast, this study uses objective blood biomarkers together with multimodal MRI and validated cognitive measures, offering a more direct assessment of how diet-related nutrients relate to brain structure, function, and metabolism.
The integrated approach allowed the team to link nutrient biomarker patterns with specific brain properties and cognitive outcomes. Importantly, observed differences in brain aging were not explained by demographic factors, fitness levels, or anthropometric measures, strengthening the case that nutrient patterns observed in the blood are meaningfully associated with brain health.
Next steps include randomized controlled trials to test whether increasing targeted nutrients—potentially via nutraceutical formulations or dietary interventions—can produce measurable improvements in cognitive performance and neuroimaging markers of brain structure, function, and metabolism. Such trials would determine causality and guide practical recommendations for promoting healthy brain aging.
Barbey is also co-editing a special collection for the Journal of Nutrition titled “Nutrition and the Brain — Exploring Pathways to Optimal Brain Health Through Nutrition,” reflecting growing scientific interest and major funding initiatives aimed at accelerating nutrition research related to brain health.
About this diet and brain aging research news
Author: Leslie Reed
Source: University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Contact: Leslie Reed – University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access. Investigating nutrient biomarkers of healthy brain aging: a multimodal brain imaging study, by Aron Barbey et al., published in Nature Aging.
Abstract (summary):
This study addresses a core aim of Nutritional Cognitive Neuroscience: to identify nutrient profiles that support healthy brain aging. In a comprehensive investigation of 100 older adults, researchers combined validated cognitive testing, multimodal neuroimaging measures of brain structure, function, and metabolism, and 13 blood-based diet biomarkers. Hierarchical clustering revealed two aging phenotypes—accelerated and slower-than-expected. A nutrient biomarker pattern characterized by higher concentrations of specific fatty acids, antioxidants, carotenoids, and vitamin E corresponded with better cognitive scores and delayed brain aging. These findings motivate neuroscience-guided dietary interventions to test whether modifying nutrient profiles can reliably promote brain health.