Cell Metab

AAIC 2024: Can fasting and diet slow brain aging?

August 7, 2024

Both intermittent fasting (IF) and a standard healthy living (HL) diet improved cognition, with intermittent fasting showing slightly stronger benefits. However, neither diet showed significant improvements in biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

• NIH researchers studied the brain effects of the USDA HL diet and 5:2 IF diets over 8 weeks in 46 cognitively intact adults (mean age, 63.2 years; 60% female; mean BMI, 34.4) with overweight and peripheral insulin resistance (IR). Primary outcome was neuron-derived extracellular vesicles (NDEV)-biomarker-assessed neuronal IR, with secondary outcomes including BrainAGE, magnetic resonance spectroscopy metabolites, NDEV, and CSF biomarkers for AD/related dementias, cognitive performance, and systemic and peripheral metabolism measures.
• Both IF and HL diets led to improvements in IR and cognitive function. Participants in both groups exhibited decreased IR, but the improvements were more pronounced in the IF group. Both diets also contributed to slowing the pace of brain aging, particularly in the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex.
• The IF group showed significant improvements in tasks related to strategic planning and cognitive flexibility. They also exhibited greater enhancements in memory, particularly in long delay cued recall, compared with the HL group. Physical activity levels increased in the IF group, with a decrease in sedentary behavior, whereas the HL group didn't show significant changes in physical activity.
• Despite overall positive outcomes, the study didn't find significant changes in amyloid-beta and tau proteins.

Source:

Kapogiannis D, et al. (2024, July 16). Cell Metab. Brain responses to intermittent fasting and the healthy living diet in older adults. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39019039/