Seminar: "Metabolic Dysfunction and the Aging Brain" - Auriel Willette, BA, MS, PhD

Nutritional Sciences Seminar:

"Metabolic Dysfunction and the Aging Brain"

Auriel Willette, BA, MS, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurology Center for Innovation in Health and Aging Research Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Metabolic dysfunction, including insulin resistance (IR), pre-diabetes, and type 2 diabetes, impacts tens of millions of Americans. While excess glucose has known effects on various cancers and peripheral tissue, its impact on the brain has frequently received less attention. In this presentation, IR will be briefly reviewed before applications to the aging brain are described. Next, IR associations with emotional regulation using electromyography will be covered. Finally, a large study spanning the UK Biobank will include the effect of aging on body mass composition, of body composition on fluid intelligence, and how physical exercise and dietary composition moderate these relationships. Taken together, this work is significant because excess glucose can potentiate normal aging and brain changes reflecting Alzheimer’s disease. By better understanding these associations, strategies for improving cardiometabolic health can be introduced that may positively impact the aging brain.