Abstract
Healthy dietary patterns may protect against age-related cognitive decline, but results of studies have been inconsistent and few have had extensive longitudinal follow-up with comprehensive cognitive testing. The aim of the present study was to determine associations of dietary patterns with trajectories of global- and domain-specific cognitive change over a 12-year period. Data from 863 community-dwelling, dementia-free participants from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 study of ageing completed a FFQ at baseline (aged 70 years) and underwent cognitive testing at baseline, and at the ages of 73, 76, 79 and 82 years. Composite cognitive scores were constructed for four cognitive domains (visuospatial ability, processing speed, memory and verbal ability) and global cognitive function. A Mediterranean-style pattern and a traditional pattern were derived using principal component analysis of self-reported dietary intakes. In fully adjusted latent growth curve models, higher baseline adherence to the Mediterranean-style dietary pattern (β = 0·056, P = 0·009) and lower baseline adherence to the traditional dietary pattern (β = -0·087, P < 0·001) were cross-sectionally associated with better verbal ability. A slightly steeper decline in verbal ability over 12 years was observed in those with higher Mediterranean-style diet scores at baseline (β=-0·003, P = 0·008). All other associations were non-significant. Our findings in this well-characterised Scottish cohort indicate that adherence to a healthy Mediterranean-style diet is associated cross-sectionally with better verbal (crystallised) ability, with the converse being true for the traditional diet. A healthier baseline diet did not predict a reduced risk of global- or domain-specific cognitive decline.
Highlights
Healthy dietary patterns may protect against age-related cognitive decline, but results of studies have been inconsistent and few have had extensive longitudinal follow-up with comprehensive cognitive testing
The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936) study previously demonstrated cross-sectional associations of better cognitive performance with closer adherence to a Mediterranean-style dietary pattern and lower adherence to a more traditional dietary pattern, at age 70 years[22]. We extend these results, using the same ‘a posteriori’ baseline dietary patterns, derived using principal component analysis (PCA) of ‘wholediet’ data, to predict 12-year cognitive change in the same sample
The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 is a community-dwelling sample of 1091 individuals being studied in later life for the purposes of assessing the determinants of cognitive and brain ageing
Summary
Healthy dietary patterns may protect against age-related cognitive decline, but results of studies have been inconsistent and few have had extensive longitudinal follow-up with comprehensive cognitive testing. The aim of the present study was to determine associations of dietary patterns with trajectories of global- and domain-specific cognitive change over a 12-year period. Our findings in this well-characterised Scottish cohort indicate that adherence to a healthy Mediterranean-style diet is associated crosssectionally with better verbal (crystallised) ability, with the converse being true for the traditional diet. The Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle study of Ageing reported no significant associations in 527 adults (69 years), except for ApoE e4 allele carriers, in whom higher Mediterranean diet scores were associated with less 3-year decline in executive functioning, but not in other domains[20]. Many (but not all) previous studies have assessed global cognitive function only[21] often using a single measure of global cognitive status, such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), which
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