Abstract
The aim of the study was to identify nutrients that have the ability to impact brain functioning and, as a consequence, influence episodic memory. In particular, we examined recollection, the ability to recall details of previous experiences, which is the episodic memory process most affected as age advances. A sample of 1,550 healthy participants between 21 and 80 years old participated in the study. Nutritional intake was examined through a food frequency questionnaire and software developed to determine the daily consumption of 64 nutrients based on food intake during the last year. Recollection was measured through a computerized source memory paradigm. First, we identified which nutrients influence recollection across the entire adult life span. Then, moderator analyses were conducted by dividing the sample into young (21–40 years old), middle-aged (41–60 years old) and older (61–80 years old) adults to establish in which life stage nutrients influence episodic memory. Across the adult life span, recollection accuracy was shown to benefit from the intake of sodium, heme, vitamin E, niacin, vitamin B6, cholesterol, alcohol, fat, protein, and palmitic, stearic, palmitoleic, oleic, gadoleic, alpha-linoleic and linoleic acid. The effects of energy, maltose, lactose, calcium and several saturated fatty acids on recollection were modulated by age; in older adults, the consumption of these nutrients negatively influenced episodic memory performance, and in middle-aged adults, only lactose had negative effects. Several brain mechanisms that support episodic memory were influenced by specific nutrients, demonstrating the ability of food to enhance or deteriorate episodic memory.
Highlights
Memory is often considered the ability to remember one’s own past
The results of the linear regression analyses conducted for each nutrient and recollection accuracy are shown according to the group of nutrients in Table 2, Table 3, Table 4, Table 5, and Table 6
The results revealed that 26 nutrients significantly predicted recollection accuracy; after applying the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure, thiamine, vitamin B12, eicosatetranoic acid and phosphorus were no longer significant predictors
Summary
Memory is often considered the ability to remember one’s own past This kind of memory is known as episodic memory, a term introduced by Tulving (1972) to differentiate this type of memory from semantic memory. Within the realm of episodic memory, it is possible to remember events that do not include contextual details by means of familiarity, a process that. Nutrient Effects on Episodic Memory only provides a vague sense that an event has previously occurred (Mandler, 1980). This process is distinguished from recollection by the ability to remember what happened, where and when (Tulving, 2002).
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