Peripheral biomarkers and brain behavior, structure, and function in healthy, aging adults

The current demographic landscape is shifting toward a population disproportionately comprised of adults over the age of 65-years-old. These changes are occurring at an unprecedented rate and challenging the healthcare system to meet the needs of aging-centered care for more people than ever before. As the brain ages it undergoes changes yielding deficits of varying severity, from cognitive deficits seen in normal aging to functional deficits experienced with pathological aging. Observational and interventional studies suggest peripheral factors could influence challenges arising from normal brain aging, though the results are variable. Two such peripheral factors are nutrition, evidenced by studies in nutritional epidemiology, and inflammation, evidenced by studies in psychoneuroimmunology. The unique and regulated barrier between the periphery and the brain, commonly referred to as the blood-brain barrier, determines which nutrients and inflammation factors gain access to the central nervous tissues. Some nutrients, such as xanthophyll carotenoids, can cross this barrier while markers of inflammation are more regulated, with greater access permitted as the integrity of the barrier declines with age. Because these peripheral biomarkers have access to brain tissue, it is possible that they impact changes in cognitive function associated with brain aging by influencing brain structure, network connectivity, and white matter integrity. As such, these biomarkers are potential targets for intervention studies and precision medicine approaches to ameliorate normal brain aging. The following dissertation expands on how xanthophyll carotenoids and inflammation factors moderate relationships that predict facets of intelligence across imaging modalities, providing converging evidence that these peripheral biomarkers impact human health, aging, and disease.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Neuroscience

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Hewes, Kelly

Contributors dc:contributor

• Barbey, Aron
• Khan, Naiman
• Mudar, Raksha
• Wszalek, Tracey

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Nutritional Neuroscience
• Psychoimmunology

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Kelly Hewes

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115857

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F115857