Nutritional Neuroscience Research Articles

The Intersection of Ultra-Processed Foods, Neuropsychiatric Disorders, and Neurolaw: Implications for Criminal Justice.

Over the last decade there has been increasing interest in the links between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and various neuropsychiatric disorders, aggression, and antisocial behavior. Neurolaw is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to translate the rapid and voluminous advances in brain science into legal decisions and policy. An enhanced understanding of biophysiological mechanisms by which ultra-processed foods influence brain and behavior allows for a historical reexamination of one of forensic neuropsychiatry's most famous cases-The People v. White and its associated 'Twinkie Defense'. Here in this Viewpoint article, we pair original court transcripts with emergent research in neurolaw, including nutritional neuroscience, microbiome sciences (legalome), pre-clinical mechanistic research, and clinical intervention trials. Advances in neuroscience, and related fields such as the microbiome, are challenging basic assumptions in the criminal justice system, including notions of universal free will. Recent dismissals of criminal charges related to auto-brewery syndrome demonstrate that courts are open to advances at the intersection of neuromicrobiology and nutritional neuroscience, including those that relate to criminal intent and diminished capacity. As such, it is our contention that experts in the neurosciences will play an increasing role in shaping research that underpins 21st-century courtroom discourse, policy, and decision-making.

Gut microbiota, nutrition, and mental health.

The human brain remains one of the greatest challenges for modern medicine, yet it is one of the most integral and sometimes overlooked aspects of medicine. The human brain consists of roughly 100 billion neurons, 100 trillion neuronal connections and consumes about 20-25% of the body's energy. Emerging evidence highlights that insufficient or inadequate nutrition is linked to an increased risk of brain health, mental health, and psychological functioning compromise. A core component of this relationship includes the intricate dynamics of the brain-gut-microbiota (BGM) system, which is a progressively recognized factor in the sphere of mental/brain health. The bidirectional relationship between the brain, gut, and gut microbiota along the BGM system not only affects nutrient absorption and utilization, but also it exerts substantial influence on cognitive processes, mood regulation, neuroplasticity, and other indices of mental/brain health. Neuroplasticity is the brain's capacity for adaptation and neural regeneration in response to stimuli. Understanding neuroplasticity and considering interventions that enhance the remarkable ability of the brain to change through experience constitutes a burgeoning area of research that has substantial potential for improving well-being, resilience, and overall brain health through optimal nutrition and lifestyle interventions. The nexus of lifestyle interventions and both academic and clinical perspectives of nutritional neuroscience emerges as a potent tool to enhance patient outcomes, proactively mitigate mental/brain health challenges, and improve the management and treatment of existing mental/brain health conditions by championing health-promoting dietary patterns, rectifying nutritional deficiencies, and seamlessly integrating nutrition-centered strategies into clinical care.

Perspectives on Neuronutrition in Prevention and Treatment of Neurological Disorders.

The term neuronutrition has been proposed as part of nutritional neuroscience, studying the effects of various dietary components on behavior and cognition. Other researchers underline that neuronutrition includes the use of various nutrients and diets to prevent and treat neurological disorders. The aim of this narrative review was to explore the current understanding of the term neuronutrition as the key concept for brain health, its potential molecular targets, and perspectives of its nutritional approach to the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, multiple sclerosis, anxiety, depressive disorders, migraine, and chronic pain. Neuronutrition can be defined as a part of neuroscience that studies the influence of various aspects of nutrition (nutrients, diet, eating behavior, food environment, etc.) on the development of nervous disorders and includes nutrition, clinical dietetics, and neurology. There is evidence that the neuronutritional approach can influence neuroepigenetic modifications, immunological regulation, metabolic control, and behavioral patterns. The main molecular targets in neuronutrition include neuroinflammation, oxidative/nitrosative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, gut-brain axis disturbance, and neurotransmitter imbalance. To effectively apply neuronutrition for maintaining brain health, a personalized approach is needed, which includes the adaptation of the scientific findings to the genetic, biochemical, psycho-physiological, and environmental features of each individual.

Microbiome-gut-brain axis in Nutritional Psychiatry

Abstract The last decade has seen an enormous expansion on our knowledge of the human gut microbiome and its importance for human physiology. The gastrointestinal inhabitants have taken centre stage as regulators of the bidirectional gut to brain communication. The gut microbiota is not only critical for metabolism, glucose homeostasis and body composition, but increasing evidence is demonstrating the significant effects of the gut microbiota on mood and mental wellbeing and its role in the development of affective disorders, such as anxiety and depression, and other neuropsychiatric conditions. Studies in the field of nutritional neuroscience and nutritional psychiatry are now increasingly including the gut microbiota as a key factor mediating the impact of diet on central nervous system function. Accumulating evidence from cell-based in vitro studies, animal models and preclinical intervention studies are linking the gut microbiota to the effects of diet on brain function, but the precise mechanism are still not fully understood and studies have had limited translation to human intervention studies. Overall, the increase in our understanding of interconnectedness of the gastrointestinal microbiota of human health and disease, has led to a strong focus on the development of microbiota-targeted strategies to influence all host physiological responses, including those that can modulate central nervous system function. In this talk, I will provide an overview of the most recent advances in the nutritional psychiatry–microbiome field, highlighting significant opportunities for future research. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

The microbiome-gut-brain axis in nutritional neuroscience

ABSTRACT Emerging evidence is highlighting the microbiome as a key regulator of the effect of nutrition on gut-brain axis signaling. Nevertheless, it is not yet clear whether the impact of nutrition is moderating the microbiota-gut-brain interaction or if diet has a mediating role on microbiota composition and function to influence central nervous system function, brain phenotypes and behavior. Mechanistic evidence from cell-based in vitro studies, animal models and preclinical intervention studies are linking the gut microbiota to the effects of diet on brain function, but they have had limited translation to human intervention studies. While increasing evidence demonstrates the triangulating relationship between diet, microbiota, and brain function across the lifespan, future mechanistic and translational studies in the field of microbiota and nutritional neuroscience are warranted to inform potential strategies for prevention and management of several neurological, neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric disorders. This brief primer provides an overview of the most recent advances in the nutritional neuroscience – microbiome field, highlighting significant opportunities for future research.

Role of probiotics and vitamins in maintaining a healthy gut microbiome: recent advances

While the concept of probiotics is not new, science based approaches to developing targeted probiotic products are a renewed interest. Probiotics and the microbiome is now being considered as having a blueprint of good health, unique to every human. Along with the well-known and established health benefits like reduced antibiotic associated diarrhoea and colic symptoms, eczema, necrotising enterocolitis, acute paediatric infections like diahorrea and upper respiratory tract infections; probiotics are now considered as beneficial for maintaining mental well-being as well. This new branch of disease management is now termed as Nutritional neuroscience and these beneficial gut bacteria are referred to as psychobiotics. It is important to identify the specific strains of probiotics and characterize them and conduct randomised controlled trials to establish these benefits. With emerging data related to role of vitamins in modulating the gut microbiome, combining pre and probiotics with micronutrients is likely to result in powerful functional foods boosting host immunity.

Young Domestic Pigs (Sus scrofa) Can Perform Pavlovian Eyeblink Conditioning.

Introduction: Pigs have been an increasingly popular preclinical model in nutritional neuroscience, as their anatomy, physiology, and nutrition requirements are highly comparable to those of humans. Eyeblink conditioning is one of the most well-validated behavioral paradigms in neuroscience to study underlying mechanisms of learning and memory formation in the cerebellum. Eyeblink conditioning has been performed in many species but has never been done on young pigs. Therefore, our aim here was to develop and validate an eyeblink conditioning paradigm in young pigs.Method: Eighteen intact male pigs were artificially reared from postnatal day 2–30. The eyeblink conditioning setup consisted of a sound-damping box with a hammock that pigs were placed in, which allowed the pig to remain comfortable yet maintain a typical range of head motion. In a delay conditioning paradigm, the conditional stimulus (CS) was a 550 ms blue light-emitting diode (LED), the unconditional stimulus (US) was a 50 ms eye air-puff, the CS-US interval was 500 ms. Starting at postnatal day 14, pigs were habituated for 5 days to the eyeblink conditioning setup, followed by 5 daily sessions of acquisition training (40 paired CS-US trials each day).Results: The group-averaged amplitude of conditioned eyelid responses gradually increased over the course of the 5 days of training, indicating that pigs learned to make the association between the LED light CS and the air-puff US. A similar increase was found for the conditioned response (CR) probability: the group-averaged CR probability on session 1 was about 12% and reached a CR probability of 55% on day 5. The latency to CR peak time lacked a temporal preference in the first session but clearly showed preference from the moment that animals started to show more CRs in session 2 and onwards whereby the eyelid was maximally closed exactly at the moment that the US would be delivered.Conclusion: We concluded that 3-week-old pigs have the capability of performing in a cerebellar classical conditioning task, demonstrating for the first time that eyeblink conditioning in young pigs has the potential to be a valuable behavioral tool to measure neurodevelopment.

Diet Quality and Mental Health Amongst Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Patients.

This is the first study that explored the self-reported dietary habits of acute psychiatric inpatients. We found that 75% of the psychiatric inpatients have an unhealthy diet, which correlates with higher body mass index (BMI) and lower education level. We also found an increased sugar consumption in inpatients with schizophrenia.The link between nutrition and mental health has been explored to a limited extent owing to the cumbersome nature of conducting research that involves specific dietary intervention and follow up. Yet, there is existing literature linking poor diet with impaired mental health and poor recovery from depression, amongst other disorders. Good nutrition can be exemplified with diets like the Mediterranean diet with a focus on certain food groups that provide the nutrients linked to neurotransmitters and a fairly new concept of the gut-brain axis.A Mediterranean-style dietary intervention supplemented with fish oil improves diet quality and mental health in people with depression. A randomised controlled trial published in the nutritional neuroscience journal yielded a positive outcome and improvement in the overall well-being of the patients enrolled.We explored the dietary habits of acute inpatients. After gathering a detailed diet history, their food habits were compared to a Mediterranean dietary index to assess their dietary patterns. Additionally, variables such as socio-economic characteristics, physical activity, income, BMI, and educational achievement were taken into consideration, with the intention to understand the effect of these factors on a diet consumed by acute patients and the relationship of the diet with their mental wellbeing.Ultimately, this study aims at an important aspect of preventive mental health, i.e., improved dietary habits (e.g., Mediterranean diet) may contribute to more rapid symptoms resolution and acute stabilization on a short-stay inpatient unit.

Nutritional Neuroscience as Mainstream of Psychiatry: The Evidence- Based Treatment Guidelines for Using Omega-3 Fatty Acids as a New Treatment for Psychiatric Disorders in Children and Adolescents.

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (or omega-3 PUFAs, n-3 PUFAs) are essential nutrients throughout the life span. Recent studies have shown the importance of n-3 PUFAs supplementation during prenatal and perinatal period as a potential protective factor of neurodevelopmental disorders. N-3 PUFAs have been reported to be lower in youth with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). N-3 PUFAs supplementation has shown potential effects in the improvement of clinical symptoms in youth with ADHD, ASD, and MDD, especially those with high inflammation or a low baseline n-3 index. Moreover, it has been suggested that n-3 PUFAs had positive effects on lethargy and hyperactivity symptoms in ASD. For clinical application, the following dosage and duration are recommended in youth according to available randomized controlled trials and systemic literature review: (1) ADHD: a combination of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) + docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) ≥ 750 mg/d, and a higher dose of EPA (1,200 mg/d) for those with inflammation or allergic diseases for duration of 16−24 weeks; (2) MDD: a combination of a EPA + DHA of 1,000−2,000 mg/d, with EPA:DHA ratio of 2 to 1, for 12−16 weeks; (3) ASD: a combination of EPA + DHA of 1,300−1,500 mg/d for 16−24 weeks as add-on therapy to target lethargy and hyperactivity symptoms. The current review also suggested that n-3 index and inflammation may be potential treatment response markers for youth, especially in ADHD and MDD, receiving n-3 PUFA.

Dietary Lowering of omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Lowered Voluntary Ethanol Binge-drinking in Mice (OR19-02-19)

ObjectivesOur objective is to examine the effects of lowering dietary omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6 PUFA, linoleic acid; LA) and/or supplementation of omega-3 PUFA (n-3 PUFA, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid; EPA and DHA) on voluntary ethanol binge drinking and pathway networks involved in the interactions of PUFA and ethanol in mesolimbic circuit of the brain. MethodsBehavioral cohort: Time-pregnant C57BL/6J dams were randomized to one of four custom dietary interventions. The diets varied in the combination of n-6 PUFA (8 energy% LA or 1 en% LA) and n-3 PUFA (0.5 en% EPA + DHA or 0 en% EPA + DHA). The dietary fatty acid compositions are crafted based on contemporary American and evolutionary model intake. Male offspring continued their respective maternal diet for 8 weeks before ethanol exposure. During the 6-week ethanol binge drinking, mice were exposed to cycles of 5-day 20%v/v ethanol for 4 hours in the dark and 2-day abstinence. RNA-Sequencing cohort: Same dietary interventions were applied. 15-week-old male offspring was subjected to a 9-day 2 g/kg and 1-day 5 g/kg ethanol gavage paradigm. Striatum were collected for next generation RNA sequencing after the last dose of gastric gavage. ResultsMice fed 1 en% LA and 0 en% EPA + DHA (L6L3) lowered voluntary ethanol binge drinking by 29% as compared to mice fed 8 en% LA and 0 en% EPA + DHA (H6L3) (one-way ANOVA; week 3, p = 0.0072; week 4–6, P < 0.05). Mice fed 1 en% LA and 0.5 en% EPA + DHA (L6H3) or 8 en% LA and 0.5 en% EPA + DHA (H6H3) did not differ in ethanol binge drinking as compared to L6L3 and H6L3 mice. Mice fed L6L3 exhibited more differentially expressed genes in striatum as compared to other dietary interventions (L6L3, 158 genes; H6L3, 16; L6H3, 39; H6H3, 20). Gene set analysis by Panther showed that striatal transcriptomic signatures in response to ethanol gavage are vastly different between dietary interventions. ConclusionsDietary fatty acids may alter striatal transcriptomic response to ethanol which may result in lowering of voluntary ethanol binge drinking. Dietary lowering of n-6 PUFA may be an effective strategy in preventing voluntary alcohol binge drinking which is a major public health concern. Funding SourcesNational Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Section of Nutritional Neuroscience.

Food for Mood: Relevance of Nutritional Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Depression and Anxiety.

The central nervous system (CNS) has the highest concentration of lipids in the organism after adipose tissue. Among these lipids, the brain is particularly enriched with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) represented by the omega-6 (ω6) and omega-3 (ω3) series. These PUFAs include arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), respectively. PUFAs have received substantial attention as being relevant to many brain diseases, including anxiety and depression. This review addresses an important question in the area of nutritional neuroscience regarding the importance of ω3 PUFAs in the prevention and/or treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases, mainly depression and anxiety. In particular, it focuses on clinical and experimental data linking dietary intake of ω3 PUFAs and depression or anxiety. In particular, we will discuss recent experimental data highlighting how ω3 PUFAs can modulate neurobiological processes involved in the pathophysiology of anxiety and depression. Potential mechanisms involved in the neuroprotective and corrective activity of ω3 PUFAs in the brain are discussed, in particular the sensing activity of free fatty acid receptors and the activity of the PUFAs-derived endocannabinoid system and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis.

A mind cleared by walnut oil: The effects of polyunsaturated and saturated fat on extinction learning

The treatment of anxiety-based psychopathology often hinges upon extinction learning. Research in nutritional neuroscience has observed that the regular consumption of perilla oil (50% alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)) facilitates extinction learning in rats (Yamamoto et al., 1988). However, acute facilitation of extinction learning by oils rich in ALA has not been reported for rats or humans, though the acute consumption of rapeseed oil (10% ALA) has been observed to improve cognitive processing speed in humans (Jones, Sünram-Lea, & Wesnes, 2012). For this reason, the present laboratory work examined the effects of adding walnut oil (12% ALA) to a chocolate milkshake on the acquisition, generalization, and extinction of a fear-based prediction in young adults. It compared performance between subjects. The other participants consumed a similar milkshake with either an equicaloric amount of cream (saturated fat), or with no added fat (control). Acquisition and generalization of the fear-based prediction were similar for all groups. However, those who consumed walnut oil extinguished most rapidly and profoundly. Implications for extinction learning are discussed.

The reluctant revenant and the gastric revolution

Getting shot in the chest from 3 feet was just the start of Alexis St Martin's woes. It was 1822 and the French-Canadian voyageur, a hulking, quiet man most at peace in his canoe and own company, was at an American Fur Company trade outpost in Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, Michigan, when a nearby bear trapper's gun went off by accident. The shots shattered his ribs and tore through his lungs and stomach. So grizzly were his wounds that when the fort surgeon arrived on the scene he pronounced he'd not live 36 hours. How wrong he was. It took the surgeon, a society man from New England called William Beaumont, the best part of a year to patch St Martin up. By the time he'd picked out all the pieces of shot and bone from St Martin's seeping wounds, a gastric fistula had formed into his stomach. “They didn't have anaesthetic or analgesics then of course”, says Richard Rogers, a professor of nutritional neuroscience at Pennington Biomedical Research Institute in Louisiana, USA. “So when Beaumont offered to close up the fistula, St Martin had had just about enough and said ‘thanks, but no thanks’.”

Early-Life Nutrition and Neurodevelopment: Use of the Piglet as a Translational Model.

Optimal nutrition early in life is critical to ensure proper structural and functional development of infant organ systems. Although pediatric nutrition historically has emphasized research on the relation between nutrition, growth rates, and gastrointestinal maturation, efforts increasingly have focused on how nutrition influences neurodevelopment. The provision of human milk is considered the gold standard in pediatric nutrition; thus, there is interest in understanding how functional nutrients and bioactive components in milk may modulate developmental processes. The piglet has emerged as an important translational model for studying neurodevelopmental outcomes influenced by pediatric nutrition. Given the comparable nutritional requirements and strikingly similar brain developmental patterns between young pigs and humans, the piglet is being used increasingly in developmental nutritional neuroscience studies. The piglet primarily has been used to assess the effects of dietary fatty acids and their accretion in the brain throughout neurodevelopment. However, recent research indicates that other dietary components, including choline, iron, cholesterol, gangliosides, and sialic acid, among other compounds, also affect neurodevelopment in the pig model. Moreover, novel analytical techniques, including but not limited to MRI, behavioral assessments, and molecular quantification, allow for a more holistic understanding of how nutrition affects neurodevelopmental patterns. By combining early-life nutritional interventions with innovative analytical approaches, opportunities abound to quantify factors affecting neurodevelopmental trajectories in the neonate. This review discusses research using the translational pig model with primary emphasis on early-life nutrition interventions assessing neurodevelopment outcomes, while also discussing nutritionally-sensitive methods to characterize brain maturation.

Neuroprotective Effect of Several Phytochemicals and Its Potential Application in the Prevention of Neurodegenerative Diseases.

The detrimental effects of oxidative stress and chronic neuroinflammation on neuronal cell death have been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). The nutritional neuroscience is quickly growing, and phytochemicals or phytobioactive compounds such as curcumin, resveratrol, propolis, ginsenoside, and ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been extensively applied to potential therapeutic purposes for numerous neurodegenerative diseases for their anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. However, their administration as food supplements in the daily diet of the elderly is normally a voluntary and less-organized behavior, indicating the uncertainty of therapeutic effects in this sporadic population; specifically, the effective physiological dosages and the real positive effects in preserving brain health have not yet been fully elucidated. In this review, we collect several lines of evidence on these compounds, which constitute a major type of nutraceuticals and are widely integrated into the daily anti-aging caring of elderly patients, and discuss the underlying anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory mechanisms of these phytochemicals. In conclusion, we highlight the implications of these compounds in the prevention and treatment of geriatric diseases, and of the potential supplementation procedures used as a dietary therapeutic program in clinical nursing services for patients with neurodegenerative diseases or for the elderly in certain communities, which we hope will lead to more beneficial health outcomes with respect to brain function, innate immunity, and gastrointestinal function, as well as more economic and social benefits.

Critical review evaluating the pig as a model for human nutritional physiology.

The present review examines the pig as a model for physiological studies in human subjects related to nutrient sensing, appetite regulation, gut barrier function, intestinal microbiota and nutritional neuroscience. The nutrient-sensing mechanisms regarding acids (sour), carbohydrates (sweet), glutamic acid (umami) and fatty acids are conserved between humans and pigs. In contrast, pigs show limited perception of high-intensity sweeteners and NaCl and sense a wider array of amino acids than humans. Differences on bitter taste may reflect the adaptation to ecosystems. In relation to appetite regulation, plasma concentrations of cholecystokinin and glucagon-like peptide-1 are similar in pigs and humans, while peptide YY in pigs is ten to twenty times higher and ghrelin two to five times lower than in humans. Pigs are an excellent model for human studies for vagal nerve function related to the hormonal regulation of food intake. Similarly, the study of gut barrier functions reveals conserved defence mechanisms between the two species particularly in functional permeability. However, human data are scant for some of the defence systems and nutritional programming. The pig model has been valuable for studying the changes in human microbiota following nutritional interventions. In particular, the use of human flora-associated pigs is a useful model for infants, but the long-term stability of the implanted human microbiota in pigs remains to be investigated. The similarity of the pig and human brain anatomy and development is paradigmatic. Brain explorations and therapies described in pig, when compared with available human data, highlight their value in nutritional neuroscience, particularly regarding functional neuroimaging techniques.

Protein Intake and Mood: A Systematic Review

In the last twenty years nutritional neuroscience has emerged as a recognized discipline with the potential to make significant contributions to our understanding of the relationship between nutrition and cognitive functions. Considerable research has been published on animals and humans demonstrating that different neural systems might be affected by dietary manipulations. For the central nervous system to function well it needs sufficient amounts of protein, water, vitamins such as folate, thiamine, vitamin B6, B12, alpha‐lipoic acid, lutein and omega‐3 fatty acids.TRP, an amino acid ‐ usually the least abundant ‐present in all natural proteins is of special interest to neuroscientist because of its role as precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin (5‐Hydroxytryptamine) and to the pineal hormone melatonin (N‐acetyl‐5‐methoxytryptamine). The rate of brain serotonin synthesis depends on its concentrations of TRP. This is because tryptophan hydroxylase, the enzyme that catalyzes the initial and rate‐limiting step, has a very low affinity to TRP and is highly unsaturated at physiologic brain TRP concentrations. Brain TRP concentrations and the flux of TRP from blood to brain; depend, in turn partly on plasma TRP and partly on plasma concentrations of other large neutral amino acids: tyrosine, phenylalanine, leucine, isoleucine, valine, and methionine, which compete with TRP for blood‐brain barrier transport.Consumption of carbohydrates with high glycemic indices will lower plasma levels of most amino acids, via insulin‐mediated facilitation of their uptake into skeletal muscle for conversion to protein, thus raising the plasma TRP ratio and facilitating TRP's entry into the brain. It has been speculated, that variations in the carbohydrate and protein content of meals can cause sufficient changes in brain TRP and consequently serotonin levels. The changes in brain serotonin have been proposed as the underlying mechanisms for seasonal depression and other cognitive and mood disorders.

Withdrawn: MicroRNAs as potential regulators of docosahexaenoic acid benefits in Alzheimer's disease.

Withdrawal: We regret that it has become necessary to withdraw this article published online ahead of print on the 14th March 2015 in Nutritional Neuroscience. At the time of publication, the author of this paper was no longer a registered student at the the University of Auckland and the paper was published without the University's permission. The Editor and publisher acted in good faith on the basis of the information available at the time of acceptance and remain committed to the highest ethical and scientific standards in the peer review and publication of submissions.

Psychiatry and social nutritional neuroscience.

Cacioppo et al 1 elegantly outline potential contributions of social neuroscience to psychiatry. Their interdisciplinary approach could be enhanced by incorporating a nutritional perspective. Indeed, although the human brain represents only about 2% of human body mass, it accounts for ∼20% of the total resting metabolic rate 2. As a consequence of the brain's intense energy requirements, metabolic aberrations can have substantial consequences for its function. In this commentary we focus on the progress and potential of social nutritional neuroscience, an area of growing interest and importance, for psychiatry. In traditional terms, nutritional neuroscience focuses on the effects that various dietary components have on neurochemistry, neurobiology, behavior, and cognition. Social nutritional neuroscience takes a broader view that incorporates key bidirectional influences: social processes and behavior impact diet, both of which affect neurochemistry and neurobiology. These resulting dietary and biological changes may subsequently alter social and behavioral processes, ultimately creating a feedback loop. Studies addressing the dietary and biological consequences of depression help demonstrate the importance of viewing these relationships as a two-way street. Depression can have a substantial effect on food intake. Appetite changes are a notable feature of major depressive disorder. In fact, one of the diagnostic criteria for this disorder in the DSM-5 is diet-relevant: weight gain/loss or hyperphagia/hypophagia. Depression also influences dietary preferences3: for example, some people increase comfort food intake when depressed 4. Depression and diet can impact the same physiological systems. Mechanistic studies have shown how depression can modulate key pathways to inflammation including sympathetic activity, oxidative stress, transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation, and pro-inflammatory cytokine production 5. Diet affects inflammation and modifies brain function through these same processes 3,5. Both depression and stress also have well-documented negative effects on vagal activation. Because the vagus nerve innervates tissues involved in the digestion, absorption, and metabolism of nutrients, vagal activation can directly and profoundly influence metabolic responses to food, as well as inflammation, contributing to the lively interplay between the brain and the gut 5. Diet and immune alterations may promote depression. Growing evidence suggests that people with poorer quality diets have a higher likelihood of being depressed than people with better quality diets 6. Furthermore, pro-inflammatory cytokine administration induces “sickness behaviors”, i.e., behavioral changes that resemble the somatic symptoms evident in depression, like anhedonia and lethargy 7. Accordingly, depression may start a negative cascade whereby depression promotes dysregulated food consumption and physiological responses which, in turn, further enhance depression. The bi-directional links among depression, diet, and biological responses are nicely illustrated by the relationship between depression and obesity, which is clearly linked to both diet and dysregulated physiological responses. For example, clinical depression and obesity often travel together 8. The risk for developing depression over time is 55% in obese persons, and depressed people have a 58% increased risk of becoming obese 8. In addition, a large prospective study showed that older depressed adults gained visceral fat over five years, while non-depressed adults lost visceral fat 9. Importantly, this association did not reflect changes in overall obesity, suggesting that depressive symptoms were specifically associated with changes in visceral fat, a central and important contributor to inflammation. Functioning as an endocrine organ, adipose tissue secretes a number of different peptide hormones and cytokines that influence brain function, metabolism and behavior 3. While a poor diet increases risk for depression, a healthy diet may be protective. In a prospective study with over 10,000 participants, those who ate a Mediterranean diet that was rich in monounsaturated fats, fish, fruit, nuts, and vegetables had a lower risk for depression four years later than people who consumed diets with fewer of these foods and higher amounts of saturated fats 10. Healthy diets may also reduce anxiety symptoms, in addition to depressive symptoms 6. After summarizing key issues in social neuroscience and its potential contribution to psychiatry, Cacioppo et al 1 concluded that neuroimaging and genetic research that focuses on specific component processes underlying social living is needed. In the field of social nutritional neuroscience, similar neuroimaging and genetic research would be valuable. In fact, an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates both social neuroscience and social nutritional neuroscience could foster unique and provocative questions that would further our understanding of psychiatric disorders. A broader emphasis on the role of behavior as a key driver in nutritional neuroscience could also open up new vistas and prospects for future research.

The Association of Early Weaning and Formula Feeding with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Breastfeeding MedicineVol. 9, No. 5 Letters to the EditorThe Association of Early Weaning and Formula Feeding with Autism Spectrum DisordersTouraj Shafai, Monika Mustafa, Tannaz Hild, Jeffrey Mulari, and Antonio CurtisTouraj ShafaiRiverside, California.Search for more papers by this author, Monika MustafaRiverside, California.Search for more papers by this author, Tannaz HildRiverside, California.Search for more papers by this author, Jeffrey MulariDepartment of Mathematics, Riverside Community College, Riverside, California.Search for more papers by this author, and Antonio CurtisDepartment of Mathematics, Riverside Community College, Riverside, California.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:9 Jun 2014https://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2013.0104AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail View article"The Association of Early Weaning and Formula Feeding with Autism Spectrum Disorders." Breastfeeding Medicine, 9(5), pp. 275–276FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byAssociation of Breastfeeding for the First Six Months of Life and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A National Multi-Center Study in China23 December 2021 | Nutrients, Vol. 14, No. 1Associations between Prenatal Education, Breastfeeding and Autistic-Like Behaviors in Pre-Schoolers9 February 2021 | Children, Vol. 8, No. 2OTİZMLİ ÇOCUKLARDA DOĞUM ÖYKÜSÜ, ANNE SÜTÜ ALMA SÜRESİ, TELEVİZYON İLE TANIŞMA YAŞI, TELEVİZYON, CEP TELEFONU VE TABLET KULLANIM ALIŞKANLIKLARININ İNCELENMESİ29 November 2020 | Kırıkkale Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi DergisiAssociation of breastfeeding status with risk of autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review, dose-response analysis and meta-analysisAsian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 48Levels of Salivary Sialic Acid in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder; Could It Be Related to Stereotypes and Hyperactivity?Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience, Vol. 17, No. 3Risk Factors for Unhealthy Weight Gain and Obesity among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder4 July 2019 | International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol. 20, No. 13Maternal breastfeeding and autism spectrum disorder in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis18 October 2017 | Nutritional Neuroscience, Vol. 22, No. 5The role of marine omega-3 in human neurodevelopment, including Autism Spectrum Disorders and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder – a review18 March 2019 | Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, Vol. 41Association between breastfeeding duration and cognitive development, autistic traits and ADHD symptoms: a multicenter study in Spain15 November 2016 | Pediatric Research, Vol. 81, No. 3Maternal stress and perinatal features in autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder2 February 2016 | Pediatrics International, Vol. 58, No. 4Breastfeeding History in Children with Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Gökçe Nur Say, Zehra Babadağı, and Koray Karabekiroğlu9 June 2015 | Breastfeeding Medicine, Vol. 10, No. 5Choosing to Breastfeed: Finding the Answers Ruth A. Lawrence14 October 2014 | Breastfeeding Medicine, Vol. 9, No. 8The Risks of Not Breastfeeding: New Associations Ruth A. Lawrence9 June 2014 | Breastfeeding Medicine, Vol. 9, No. 5 Volume 9Issue 5Jun 2014 InformationCopyright 2014, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:Touraj Shafai, Monika Mustafa, Tannaz Hild, Jeffrey Mulari, and Antonio Curtis.The Association of Early Weaning and Formula Feeding with Autism Spectrum Disorders.Breastfeeding Medicine.Jun 2014.275-276.http://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2013.0104Published in Volume: 9 Issue 5: June 9, 2014Online Ahead of Print:February 7, 2014PDF download