Nutrition for the Ageing Brain Symposium

Cognitive decline with age is common in healthy individuals and extends throughout adulthood. The same mechanisms responsible for normal aging, such as oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and vascular dysfunction, also contribute to neurological diseases. Although there is a wealth of data on how nutrients and diets can support cognitive functions and brain health, their therapeutic and pharmacological potential in humans and clinical conditions remains largely unexplored. Major health organisations have not yet provided dietary recommendations for preserving brain health and cognition, nor have specific nutrients’ role in maintaining brain function during aging been clearly defined.

ILSI Europe’s Nutrition & Mental Performance Task Force embarked on this project in 2014 to review the evidence supporting how nutrients, food and diet influence brain health by organising a series of events on this topic.