Background
Brain health may be affected by modifiable lifestyle factors; consuming fish and antioxidative
omega-3 fatty acids may reduce brain structural abnormality risk.
Purpose
To determine whether dietary fish consumption is related to brain structural integrity
among cognitively normal elders.
Methods
Data were analyzed from 260 cognitively normal individuals from the Cardiovascular
Health Study with information on fish consumption from the National Cancer Institute
Food Frequency Questionnaire and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The relationship
between fish consumption data collected in 1989–1990 and brain structural MRI obtained
in 1998–1999 was assessed using voxel-based morphometry in multiple regression analyses
in 2012. Covariates were age, gender, race, education, white matter lesions, MRI-identified
infarcts, waist–hip ratio, and physical activity as assessed by the number of city
blocks walked in 1 week. Volumetric changes were further modeled with omega-3 fatty
acid estimates to better understand the mechanistic link between fish consumption,
brain health, and Alzheimer disease.
Results
Weekly consumption of baked or broiled fish was positively associated with gray matter
volumes in the hippocampus, precuneus, posterior cingulate, and orbital frontal cortex
even after adjusting for covariates. These results did not change when including omega-3
fatty acid estimates in the analysis.
Conclusions
Dietary consumption of baked or broiled fish is related to larger gray matter volumes
independent of omega-3 fatty acid content. These findings suggest that a confluence
of lifestyle factors influence brain health, adding to the growing body of evidence
that prevention strategies for late-life brain health need to begin decades earlier.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 29, 2014
Identification
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© 2014 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
