Lifestyle strategies and mechanistic implications for slowing neurodegeneration

Abstract

There is growing evidence that lifestyle habits influence neurodegenerative disease risk. Dietary strategies and exercise are among the most important lifestyle approaches to promote brain health. This review highlights the primary mechanisms by which three dietary approaches (metabolic switching, calorie restriction, high diet quality) and exercise may promote neuroprotection and inhibit neurodegeneration. Neuroprotective mechanisms induced by a healthful lifestyle include reduced inflammation, increased autophagy, neurogenesis, decreased neuronal cell death, and attenuation of pathological protein burden.