In a study of 99 healthy older adults in the US, it was found that those with high levels of monounsaturated fat (found in foods like olive oil, peanuts, salmon, and avocados) in their blood had a larger brain region dedicated to the brain attention is responsible. The researchers note that there is a connection between this region and general intelligence, but do not yet know exactly what this connection is due to. This should be found in future studies.
A study by researchers at the University of Illinois found that monounsaturated fats found in foods like olive oil, peanuts, salmon and avocados are associated with general intelligence, which is attributed to the relationship between monounsaturated fats and the brain's attention network.
The study, conducted in 99 healthy older adults at the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, compared fatty acids in blood samples, functional MRI data, which measures the efficiency of brain networks, and general intelligence test scores.
Commenting on the study published in the journal NeuroImage, Aron Barbey, Professor of Psychology, said: “Our aim was to investigate how nutrition can be used to support cognitive performance and how nutrition can influence the functional pattern of the human brain.
“This is important because if we want to develop effective nutritional solutions to improve cognitive performance, we need to understand how these nutrients affect brain function.
Marta Zamroziewicz also explained that they studied the relationship between fatty acids and brain networks that form the basis of general intelligence.
You left the Mediterranean diet
The researchers were inspired by studies showing the positive effects on intelligence of a Mediterranean diet high in monobasic fatty acids. When they examined the nutrients in the participants' blood, they found that the fatty acids were grouped into two groups: saturated fat and monounsaturated fat.
The researchers saw a link between the back region of the brain's attention network, which plays an important role in attention-demanding tasks and solving everyday problems, and general intelligence, and found that this region was higher in individuals with high levels of monounsaturated fat in her blood is bigger. Together with general intelligence, they concluded that these results affect the perception of high levels of individual fatty acids in the blood.
Barbey emphasized that their results show a connection between monounsaturated fatty acids and the brain region responsible for attention: “We hope that these results will guide new research into how diet influences cognition and intelligence. The next step will be whether long-term monounsaturated fatty acid intake affects intelligence. It is very exciting for us to lead such work.”
Source: Sciencedaily.com
