Associations between nutritional status and cognitive performance were examined in 137 elderly (aged 66-90 y) community residents. Participants were well-educated, adequately nourished, and free of significant cognitive impairment. Performance on cognitive tests in 1986 was related to both past (1980) and concurrent (1986) nutritional status. Several significant associations (P < 0.05) were observed between cognition and concurrent vitamin status, including better abstraction performance with higher biochemical status and dietary intake of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and folate (r(s) = 0.19-0.29) and better visuospatial performance with higher plasma ascorbate (r = 0.22). Concurrent dietary protein in 1986 correlated significantly (r(s) = 0.25-0.26) with memory scores, and serum albumin or transferrin with memory, visuospatial, or abstraction scores (r(s) = 0.18- 0.22). Higher past intake of vitamins E, A, B-6, and B-12 was related to better performance on visuospatial recall and/or abstraction tests (r(s) = 0.19-0.28). Use of self-selected vitamin supplements was associated with better performance on a difficult visuospatial test and an abstraction test. Although associations were relatively weak in this well-nourished and cognitively intact sample, the pattern of outcomes suggests some directions for further research on cognition-nutrition associations in aging.
CITATION STYLE
La Rue, A., Koehler, K. M., Wayne, S. J., Chiulli, S. J., Haaland, K. Y., & Garry, P. J. (1997). Nutritional status and cognitive functioning in a normally aging sample: A 6-y reassessment. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 65(1), 20–29. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/65.1.20
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