school of psychology & clinical language sciences examining...

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT Copyright University of Reading

EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF FLAVONOIDS ON COGNITION

ALifespan Prospective Dr Daniel Lamport

1

School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT

In the headlines....

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT

stimulation of

cognitive development

prevention of

cognitive aging

ABILITY

PERFORMANCE

optimalization of

cognitive performance

infant child adult elderly

Cognition throughout the lifespan

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT

CHILDREN AGED 8-10

5

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT

Test Function

Go-NoGo Executive Function, response inhibition

Flanker Executive Function – response interference

AVLT Learning, word recall & word Recognition

PMT Levels of processing, response interference

WHYTE, SCHAFER & WILLIAMS (2015)

Treatments: • 30g WBB (~240g fresh) • 15g WBB (~120g fresh)* • Placebo*

*Matched for sugars and vitamin C to highest dose

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL | LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES | LIMITLESS IMPACT

VERBAL RECALL

7

Re

actio

n T

ime

(m

s)

Accu

racy

Blueberry powder of 200g blueberries, with semi-skimmed milk N = 19 young adults (20-27 years) and 18 older adults (62-73 years)

Dodd 2013 PhD thesis

Healthy young adults & older adults

Blueberries consumption (579mg flavonoids) associated with acute improvements in cognition

Citrus flavonoids; an acute study healthy males (aged 30-65)

Alharbi et al. 2015 Eur J Nutr

Orange juice & processed whole orange, placebo controlled, crossover acute trial (272mg flavonoid dose)

22 healthy adults aged 30-65 years

-0.30

-0.20

-0.10

0.00

0.10

0.20

2 hours post 6 hours post

Change from

baseline Z-score

Placebo

High Flavonoid

* p<0.05

55

60

65

70

75

Baseline 2 hours 6 hours

Alertness Rating

%

Placebo High Flavonoid

Alharbi et al. 2015 Eur J Nutr

Psychomotor Speed Subjective Alertness

Flavonoid-rich Cocoa: Older Adults Acute, Crossover, double-blind. HF = 494mg LF = 23mg 330ml dairy based cocoa drinks

Equicaloric (113kcal), matched for theobrom. & caffein N = 63 healthy older adults, aged 65-80 yrs

Saunders et al. under review

Chronic effects?

• We have demonstrated effects across the lifespan for acute flavonoid interventions.

• Does chronic daily consumption also lead to observable benefits?

Orange juice intervention in older adults

• Flavanone-rich drink: 500ml daily serving of orange juice containing 305mg flavanones

• Placebo: 500ml daily serving of Orange Squash

• Participants: N=37, aged 60-81 years (mean 67), healthy

Chronic 8 week orange juice intervention

Kean et al. 2015 AJCN

Flavonoid-rich Cocoa

Cognitive benefits observed but only if baseline flavanol intake is low

Saunders 2009 PhD thesis

Habitual flavonoid intake

• Cross sectional and longitudinal design

• 76 healthy older adults (29 men and 47 women; mean age 74)

• All participants performed two identical cognitive assessments in 2010 and 2014.

• Flavonoid intake was assessed with a single dietary assessment upon recruitment using a food frequency questionnaire FFQ. Flavonoid intake was calculated using the FLAVIOLA Food Composition Database.

Habitual flavonoid intake

The highest flavonoid consumers showed improvements over the past 4 years in Executive Function (Stroop) and Memory (delayed word recall) The lowest consumers showed a decline in performance.

Alharbi et al. in prep

Habitual flavonoid intake

Same pattern observed for MMSE – a test of global function in old age. The highest consumers showed maintenance of performance, whereas lowest consumers showed a significant decline.

Flavonoids

Cocoa flavonoids and increased cerebral blood flow (ASL)

The HF – LF contrast analysis revealed significantly increased regional perfusion 2 hrs post consumption of the HF drink relative to the LF drink

1. anterior cingulate gyrus 2. central opercular cortex of the left parietal lobe down to a sub-

cluster in the temporal pole Lamport et al. 2015 Psychopharamcology

Blueberries associated with increased Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)

N=17 young healthy adults Blueberry powder, the equivalent of 200g blueberries, with semi-skimmed milk

BDNF is a secreted protein and part of the neurotrophin family of growth factors which supports the survival and growth of neurons in the brain, and is a biomarker of learning and memory

Dodd 2013 PhD thesis

stimulation of

cognitive development

prevention of

cognitive aging

ABILITY

PERFORMANCE

optimalization of

cognitive performance

infant child adult elderly

Flavonoids for cognition throughout the lifespan

Acknowledgements Prof Laurie Butler Prof Jeremy Spencer Prof Claire Williams Dr Adrian Whyte Dr Deepa Pal Dr Christina Moutsiana Dr Caroline Saunders Dr George Dodd Dr Pauline How Rebecca Kean (PhD student) Mudi Alharbi (PhD student)